American seventh seed Christina McHale claimed the Japan Women's Open on Sunday for her first WTA tour title, coming back from a set down to beat Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at a rain-hit Ariake Tennis Forest Park.
World No. 53 McHale was getting pushed all the way and looked headed for a straight-sets defeat against an all-round effort from Siniakova, before the lightest of rains stopped the match when McHale was a break down in the second set at 3-2.
McHale had two breaks after a half-hour hiatus to tie the match before jumping to a 4-0 lead in the final set. The 65th-ranked Siniakova came back with two breaks to close the gap to 5-4, despite limping, but McHale sealed it in 2 hours, 48 minutes.