Yulia Putintseva captured the third Hologic WTA Tour singles title of her career on Sunday in Birmingham with a 6-1, 7-6(8) win over Ajla Tomljanovic in the final of the Rothesay Classic.

Putintseva’s two previous titles came on clay courts, in Nurnberg in 2019 and Budapest in 2021, and she had been the runner-up in three hard court finals. But she took home the winner’s trophy in her first career grass-court final in 1 hour and 28 minutes after coming from 5-3 behind — and saving two set points — in the second set.

“I don’t know what I’m feeling because I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Putintseva said afterward. “It’s great and it’s confusing because I’ve always been good on clay, but now all of a sudden, I’m good on grass. I’ll take that! It’s great!

“It was a great game. I started so well, and then Ajla dialed up her level to the highest. She was playing really amazing, not giving me any time to think or to do something. The game was even in the end, and I was a bit more lucky.”

Tomljanovic was contesting her first tour-level singles final in five years. She dropped to 0-5 in career finals with the loss. Nonetheless, it was an encouraging week for the Australian, a former World No.32 currently ranked No.190 after missing most of 2023 following knee surgery. She was contesting just her fourth tournament since a procedure in the winter to remove ovarian cysts, as well. She has now lost five of six career matches against Putintseva.

The Kazakh took a moment to recognize the adversity that Tomljanovic has faced in her victory speech.

“It’s great to see you back after everything you’ve been through with all your injuries,” she said. “You deserve this title as much as I do … today I was stronger, but hopefully, we have a lot more to come.”

Putintseva is just the second unseeded champion in Birmingham in the last 10 years, joining Beatriz Haddad Maia’s title run in 2022.