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Dokic stuns Safarova in thrilling Malaysian Open final

Jelena Dokic beat Lucie Safarova to lift her first title since 2002 © Getty Images

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Unseeded Jelena Dokic shrugged off losing the first set to battle back and upset the much-fancied Lucie Safarova in the final of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, prevailing 2-6 7-6(9) 6-4 to claim her first title since 2002.

Dokic, making her first appearance in a final since Zurich in 2003, appeared nervous in the early exchanges and, despite a healthy first-serve percentage, she was broken twice as fifth seed Safarova breezed through the first set.

However, Dokic relaxed thereafter and began to claw her way back into the match, unloading bombs from the back of the court as her confidence slowly returned. Both players earned a break of serve apiece during a blockbuster second set, with a tiebreak needed to separate them. Needing to win it to take the match into a decider, Dokic stayed alive by snatching it 11-9.

The Australian again found herself on the back foot, however, when she trailed by a break in the third before hitting back to level up at 3-3. As the match began to swing in Dokic's favour, Safarova buckled and she was duly broken as her opponent took a decisive 5-4 advantage. Dokic, 27, then held her nerve to serve out the match, triumphing in two hours 40 minutes.

In Monterrey, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova came from behind to defend her crown by beating Jelena Jankovic 2-6 6-2 6-3 in the battle of the top two seeds.

Jankovic rushed to the first set but struggled for momentum from that point onwards, her first serve in percentage dropping for 74% to 41% from the first to second sets. She still managed to create five break point openings but failed to convert any of them.

Jankovic passed up another three openings on the Russian teen's serve in the deciding set as Pavlyuchenkova continued her domination of this opponent - record her third win in as many meetings between the pair.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.