Nicol David* wins her 62nd WSA World Tour title after retaining the *Hi-Tec Australian Open* in Canberra, Australia.
The world No.1 took 44-minutes to see off the challenge of Englishwoman *Laura Massaro*, who forced the Malaysian to a gruelling 17-15 tiebreak in the first game.
Massaro, the only player to have defeated David in a WSA World Tour final since 2009, was looking to repeat her 2011 Cleveland Classic result where she stunned David in a four-game defeat.
But the six-time World Champion held firm after chasing down the first game tie-break and settled in to retain her title in straight games.
David began the event with a surprising four-game win over young Welsh player *Tesni Evans*, before comfortably seeing off fellow Malaysian *Low Wee Wern* in round two. She was again tested in four games as *Alison Waters* attempted to throw out the reigning champion, and led after the first game but David proved too strong after a 15-13 fourth game.
It was the wake-up call David needed however, and she breezed past *Madeline Perry* in the semi’s and into todays final.
David recounted the first game after the match: “It was hard to get Laura off my back today. I had to really get stuck in there, it was mentally and physically tough,”
“In the second I started to get in front and was able to start serving and gaining control. I just knew I wasn’t letting that first game go, it was close, I’m just so glad to win it three-love.”
Earlier in the week, *Dipika Pallikal* made history as the first Indian player to reach the semi-final of a WSA World Tour Gold event, whilst *Amanda Sobhy* also upset the odds with a quarter-final appearance after downing seeds *Joey Chan* and *Jenny Duncalf*.
*Final*:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt [3] Laura Massaro (ENG) 17-15, 11-2, 11-6 (44mins)
