In an all-Czech final at the J&T Banka Prague Open, Karolina Pliskova was able to reign supreme in front of her local crowd after defeating Lucie Hradecka.

However, the win was not an easy one for Pliskova, who had to rally back from a set down to earn the victory. She dropped the opening set but came back to win the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

“It was very tough to play a Czech girl in the final in front of a Czech crowd,” Pliskova said after the match. “Lucie and I are good friends, we practice a lot together at tournaments, and we played Fed Cup together twice, so we know each other pretty well. I didn’t want to beat her, but I had to!

Pliskova withstood 17 aces from Hradecka and fired eight of her own to earn the victory. The win marked her 28th on the WTA tour this season – a tour high. This is her first title of the year.

“I’m just happy she was playing really well in the first set. In the second set I was serving at 5-3 and I didn’t make it, so I’m happy I could win the second set in the end anyway. In the third set she was playing really fast and serving really well, so it was tough, and I was having some emotions.

“But I’m just happy that I stayed calm in the end and I was able to make it today.”

Earlier in the day, the doubles final saw Belinda Bencic and Katerina Siniakova beat Kateryna Bondarenko and Eva Hrdinova in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.