Bianca Andreescu: Auckland final defeat by Julia Gorges for Canadian teenager
- Published
Gorges and Andreescu were meeting for the first time in Sunday's final
Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu's dream run at the Auckland International came to an end in the final with a three-set loss to defending champion Julia Gorges.
The 18-year-old world number 152 had beaten Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams on her way to the decider.
And she looked like taking her maiden title when she won the opening set against the German world number 14.
But Gorges fought back to take the match 2-6 7-5 6-1.
"I've played my best tennis this week," said Andreescu. "But my body is honestly a mess.
"At 5-4 in the second set, it was really hard for me to stay in the moment, I was like 'I'm one game away from winning the tournament', but Julia dominated at that point and started going for her shots."
Meanwhile, Czech world number eight Karolina Pliskova came from a set and a break down to beat Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in the final of the Brisbane International.
Tsurenko, ranked 27, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set but Pliskova, a former world number one, eventually won 4-6 7-5 6-2 for her 12th career WTA title.
The Ukrainian took an injury timeout after rolling her ankle while being broken in the first game of the third set, and from then on her challenge faded.