China's Zheng Jie wins Auckland WTA title

China’s Zheng Jie came back from a set down to claim the ASB Classic women’s tennis title 2-6, 6-3, 2-0 here Sunday.

Playing indoors after the scheduled match day was washed out by rain Saturday, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta yielded the game when she pulled out with a back injury while trailing in the third set.

It was the first WTA title for the unseeded Zheng since winning at Estoril and Stockholm in 2006.

Zheng went down 2-6 in the first set, but took control of the match when the fourth seed Italian started complaining of a back injury.

The first signs of trouble came when the Italian called a medical time out for a problem with her back while she was leading 5-2.

Despite the problem, Pennetta’s play appeared to be unaffected and she held serve to claim the set.

However, the second set proved to be her breaking point and Zheng took four games in a row.

Fearing she would aggravate her injury, Pennetta called it quits early in the third set, when Zheng was leading 2-0.

Zheng secured her place in the finals by defeating number 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 Friday.