Elena Baltacha won the epic battle of Britain at the AEGON Pro Series event in Shrewsbury in a three-set marathon against Katie O’Brien.

The pair fought out a two-hour 16-minute thriller at the Welti Centre, delighting spectators and living up to the new top-100 status the pair claimed today in the new WTA Tour rankings.

No 5 seed Baltacha was first out of the blocks in the epic decider. The British No 2 raced to a 6-3, 4-1 lead and looked at that stage like racing away with the title.

Taking confidence from her good performances this week, O’Brien fought back – winning five games in a row to take the second set 6-4.

But Baltacha dug deep, regaining control of the match in the third set to take the match 6-3 4-6 6-3.

She said: “Katie played really well. I have to give it to her, she stuck to her guns.

“I haven’t played her in a long, long time and she’s really, really improved. She fights and fights and fights.

“Quite a few people turned up and they supported us equally in the match. That was really nice and great for the tournament.

“It’s great for British tennis that we’ve had two Brits in the final of an event this strong when the top four seeds were all inside the top 100.

“Between us we knocked out three of them and showed what the British girls are capable of.

Shrewsbury is Baltacha’s second 75,000 dollar title, the Paisley-born player winning in Belgium in 2008.

“I’ve won this level of event before but to win one on home soil is fantastic,” she said. “These are not piddly tournaments, they are very strong.

“I turned up in Shrewsbury thinking first things first, I have to defend my first round points and I’ve ended up doing way, way more than I expected.

“I feel like I’ve improved so much that now I know what I’m capable of and I know I can be a real danger.

“This week is a big reward and a big thank you for all the people who have helped and supported me. People like my coach Nino Severino, Nigel Sears and Simon Walsh. We get a lot of help and support thanks to the LTA and AEGON and it’s part of the reason why we’re able to achieve things like this.”

While disappointed with Saturday’s result, O’Brien was able to take the positives from her week’s play.

“I’m also delighted to have broken into the top 100 because it makes all that hard work worthwhile,” she said.