British Tennis - Lawn Tennis Association

British No.1 Elena Baltacha won her biggest title on home soil on Sunday by beating Petra Cetkowska 7-5, 6-3 to win the $100k AEGON Nottingham Challenge.

After a rain interrupted day at the Nottingham Tennis Centre the women's singles final was completed indoors and it was the Briton who prevailed against the world No.92.

“It’s great to win a title this big, especially playing at home" said the 27 year-old afterwards. "It makes it even more special. The decision to go indoors was made pretty quickly and, to be honest, I felt like I had a better chance going indoors, so none of that bothered me at all.

"In the first set, I think we both started a little bit hit-and-miss, probably because we hadn’t hit indoors and we needed to get used to it. Then by the end of the first set, I felt like I was dominating. It was me getting things going. Once I won that set, I think I lifted. I felt very confident to push on and I relaxed and I thought, ‘Okay, I can really go for it now.’ She started playing better towards the end by then it was too late."

Victory in Nottingham is the second ITF $100k title of Baltacha's career and her fourth domestic title.

She is now scheduled to play the AEGON International in Eastbourne before taking her place in the main draw at Wimbledon. She has been drawn against Aravane Rezai in the first round in Eastbourne.

Baltacha added: "This is everything I could have hoped for from this week. I have had enough preparation on the grass going into Eastbourne and my form has been solid all week. I couldn’t ask for more going into Eastbourne and Wimbledon.”

The AEGON International in Eastbourne takes place from Saturday 12th to Saturday 18th June. More information on the official tournament website - www.aegoninternational.co.uk.

In the women’s doubles final, Cetkovska made up for losing out on the singles title as she and her partner Eva Birnerova defeated Evgeniya Rodina and Regina Kulikova 6-3, 6-2.