RESULTS: Women's Epstein Becker & Green Los Angeles Open, Los Angeles, USA
Final:
[1] Samantha Teran (MEX) bt [3] Louise Crome (NZL) 9-3, 9-4, 5-9, 9-2 (70m)
Despite enduring a 99-minute semi-final in the Women's Epstein Becker & Green Los Angeles Open, top-seeded Mexican Samantha Teran survived a 70-minute final to win the $20,000 WISPA World Tour squash event in its second year at Los Angeles Athletic Club in Los Angeles.
Opponent Louise Crome, the third seed from New Zealand, tried to mix it up during the match - but Teran maintained her characteristic hard-driving game-plan, putting the Kiwi under relentless pressure.
Teran got off to an excellent start, quickly going 8-1 up. But Crome battled to stay in the game, and only after 12 game balls did the 27-year-old from Mexico City take the lead.
The favourite again took a quick lead in the second before taking the game - but Crome achieved the same in the third to reduce the deficit. Teran survived several brutal rallies in the fourth before eventually celebrating her 9-3, 9-4, 5-9, 9-2 victory - the 11th Tour title of her career and the fourth this year.
"Louise is difficult to play, she has very good technique and hits the ball hard so I had to really work to win that one," Teran told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "I think I played better than I did yesterday, I had to think more, otherwise it would have been even longer.
"This is my favourite event - it's not too far from home and there's lots of Mexicans here to support me. We even went out for some Mexican food last night!"
Crome conceded that Teran played well: "I knew that Samantha would be driving the ball hard and low, that's her game, so I changed my game plan for today and I was trying to slow it down and control it, but it's so hot on there and it was hard not to get drawn into that game."
The triumph seals Teran's status as the top twenty player with the best win average on the WISPA World Tour: With only two losses in her 13 final appearances, the world No20 boasts an 85% success rate - ahead of Malaysia's world No1 Nicol David at 67%; Dutch star Vanessa Atkinson (61%); Australian Rachael Grinham (59%); USA's Natalie Grainger (50%) and world No2 Natalie Grinham (41%).
Teran and Crome now head to Pachuca for the Women's Harrow Mexican Open which gets underway on Thursday (3 July). Aucklander Louise Crome, the third seed, and top seed Teran could again meet in the final.