Van Uytvanck battles past Cirstea to take Tashkent title

Sorana Cirstea, the 2008 champion, could not repeat her Tashkent Open success against Alison Van Uytvanck in Saturday's final.

New Tashkent champion Alison van Uytvanck

Alison Van Uytvanck was taken the distance by Sorana Cirstea in the Tashkent Open final but rallied to take her second WTA Tour title of the year.

The Belgian, seeded third, had usurped former champion Kristyna Pliskova in the last four and added her name to that list with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 success on Saturday.

This victory adds to Van Uytvanck's success in Budapest and takes her career tally to four titles, in addition to one won at 125k level.

Cirstea's only previous triumph had come in Tashkent 11 years ago and she threatened a repeat when rallying in the second, but Van Uytvanck just had too much for the Romanian.

She's the #TashkentOpen Champion @AlisonVanU clinches it, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 over Cirstea. pic.twitter.com/UTa6ZpPKrQ

— WTA (@WTA) September 28, 2019