Mayar Sherif 'thrilled' after making history as Egypt's first WTA Tour champion

Mayar Sherif said she was happy to make Egypt proud after becoming the first player from the country to win a WTA Tour title.

Sherif, 26, made history on Saturday when she defeated world No 7 Maria Sakkari 7-5, 6-3 in the Parma Open final, also achieving her first ever top 10 win.

"It means a lot for my country," Sherif said. "It means a lot for the people back home, my family, all the hard work, all the mental struggles in the last weeks. I'm just thrilled and happy. This was never expected."

Sherif, ranked No 74 in the world, carved out her place in history on a gruelling day which saw her playing a semi-final and final back-to-back after Friday's schedule had been washed out by rain.

She finished the final with 10 winners to 11 unforced errors and generated 13 break points, converting six. Sakkari hit 22 winners to 22 unforced errors. Sherif sealed the title in style, lobbing an inrushing Sakkari on match point.

"I'm exhausted," Sherif said after coming back from being an early break down in both sets of the claycourt final.

"Today was a very tough day for me, many hours on court. I'm very happy that I pulled it off. I had to dig very deep."

First top ten win