Eleni Daniilidou won the WTA Hansol Korea Open with a marathon 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-3) victory over Ai Sugiyama in Seoul.

Having knocked out No 5 seed Vera Zvonareva and the third-seeded Marion Bartoli earlier in the tournament, the unseeded Greek got the better of Sugiyama, seeded four, with a victory that took two hours 38 minutes.

After lifting the trophy, Daniilidou said: "It was a tough match. I was not feeling my best on the court, but a victory is a victory.

"At the end, I was cramping. I am working on conditioning. I tried to play as aggressively as I could."

Sugiyama said: "In the first set I did what I had to do, but she was hitting the ball deep and pushing me off the court. The second set, I think she got a bit tired. I was moving her around more and taking the ball early.

"But in the tie-break, I really couldn't do anything. It was a really tough situation. I am disappointed."