Britain's Francesca Jones successfully defended her Palermo Ladies Open title, beating French seventh seed Fiona Ferro 6-0 4-6 7-6 (8-6) in a match lasting two hours and 43 minutes. The top-seeded Jones had dropped only one set throughout the tournament before this final, and the victory continues her strong recent form on the Challenger Tour.

The 25-year-old raced through the opening set in just 21 minutes, then recovered from 3-0 down to lead 4-3 in the second before Ferro won three straight games to force a decider. The deciding set went to a tie break, where Ferro squandered a match point at 6-5, allowing Jones to seal victory. It was Jones's fourth career Challenger Tour title and her second in eight days, following a win at the ATV Rome Open, and will see the Bradford-born player climb from 113 to 110 in the WTA rankings on Monday.