Lucky loser Sara Sorribes Tormo rallied from a break down in both the second and third sets to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday for the WTA title in Cleveland.
Sorribes improved to a perfect 2-0 in WTA finals, adding her second title to the one she captured in Guadalajara in 2021.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, ranked 95th in the world as she battles back from an early-season foot injury, will now ride a wave of confidence into her first-round clash with Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year that starts on Monday in New York.
Alexandrova, meanwhile, will have to regroup before a tricky US Open first-round meeting with 2021 finalist Leylah Fernandez of Canada.
Alexandrova, ranked 22nd in the world and seeded fourth, appeared in control after winning the first set and taking a 4-2 lead in the second.
But Sorribes battled back, winning four straight games to force a third set in which she trailed 3-1 but again battled back.
She benefitted from some untimely errors from Alexandrova, including her 13th and 14th double faults in the final game.
Alexandrova saved two match points with a pair of forehand winners and another with a service winner but put a backhand wide on Sorribes' fourth chance.
Sorribes became the sixth lucky loser to win a WTA singles title and the third this year after Maria Timofeeva at Budapest and Nao Hibino in Prague.
Lucky Loser 👉 CHAMPION 🏆@sara_sorribes completes a stunning week in Cleveland, by capturing her second Hologic WTA Tour singles title!#TennisInTheLand pic.twitter.com/dyaLrUir5t
— wta (@WTA) August 26, 2023