[caption id="attachment_249901" align="aligncenter" width="565"]
First placed Karolina Pliskova, right, and second placed Johanna Konta pose with their trophies during the award ceremony at the Italian Open tennis tournament on Sun. May 19 in Rome. (AP/PTI)[/caption]
Rome, May 19 (IANS): Karolina Pliskova clinched the 2019 Italian Open title on Sunday after beating Johanna Konta in straight sets.
Pliskova, who earned her second title this season after her 2019 Australian Open victory, needed one hour and 25 minutes to defeat Konta 6-3, 6-4 and win her first ever trophy at the Foro Italico, reports Efe news.
"It was a great week for me and my team," Pliskova said after the win.
"There were a couple of tough matches so I was happy to fight through them. I was a little bit nervous today, but it was the final, so that's to be expected," she added during the trophy ceremony.
"It's my first final in Rome, but hopefully not the last."
The Czech player will climb to world No. 2 after securing her 13th career title and will celebrate the victory with her coach Conchita Martinez, a four-time Italian Open champion when she was a tennis player.
The solid serve of Pliskova - the first Czech to win a title in Rome since 1978 - helped her to destabilize Konta.
The Czech pro managed to break Konta's serve immediately in the first set for a 3-0 lead and faced zero break points.
Pliskova, 27, earned a service break in the seventh game to grab a 4-3 lead that she built up on to serve for the match at 5-4.
The Briton saved two match points, but she could not save the third.
