Marie Bouzkova claimed her second title of the season as she battled her way past Emma Navarro to win the Nottingham Open title across three sets. 

Bouzkova gritted her teeth after sustaining an ankle injury at the end of the first set, earning an impressive 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-2 victory in an almost three-hour encounter on Sunday. 

In a closely fought opening to the match, both players struggled on serve, with Bouzkova breaking her American opponent, only for Navarro to return the favour in the next game. 

The fourth seed then called for a medical timeout when 6-5 and 30-0 love down on her own serve, but after receiving treatment, she rallied to take the first set in a tie-break. 

However, Navarro came out firing in the second set, with a break of serve in the fifth game the only opportunity she needed to ensure the match would go to a decider. 

After missing three game points in the first game of the third set, Bouzkova got the better of Navarro's serve and raced into a 3-0 lead to wrestle control away from the third seed. 

Bouzkova's win was sealed when an expertly placed forehand to the right baseline was returned by Navarro, but her attempt floated long. 

Bouzkova becomes the sheriff of Nottingham

Having started her grass-court campaign with an early exit at the Queen's Club Championship to Donna Vekic, Bouzkova rediscovered her groove on the surface and became only the second Czech player, after Karolina Pliskova in 2016, to win the Nottingham crown. 

Bouzkova's triumph also marked her first title on grass, but she was made to work for her win against Navarro, with the American firing 10 aces to her four, though she did also have four double faults to her opponents two. 

Bouzkova only dropped one set, which came in the final, on her way to lifting the trophy, with her victory here a much-needed confidence boost ahead of Wimbledon, where she has previously reached the quarter-finals in 2022.