Sherif, ranked 74th, defeated World No. 7 Sakkari 7-5, 6-3 to win a historic title.

"It means a lot for my country. It means a lot for the people back home, my family, all the hard work, all the mental struggles in the last weeks. I'm just thrilled and happy. This was never expected," she was quoted as saying by the WTA Tour official website.

Earlier on Saturday, Sherif made it to the final after overcoming Romanian Ana Bogdan, the No. 6 seed, with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win in the semi-final.

The 26-year-old's victory over Sakkari is her first over a top-10 opponent.

"I'm exhausted. Today was a very tough day for me, many hours on court. I'm very happy that I pulled it off. I had to dig very deep," she said.

"The first match was emotionally and mentally tough. There were so many key moments in the match, a lot of pressure. But after I won that match it gave me a lot of confidence so I used that for the match right after."  

First top ten win 👍
First career title 🤩

What a moment for Mayar Sherif!#ParmaLadiesOpen pic.twitter.com/E6DC5As6jT

— wta (@WTA) October 1, 2022

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