SOUTHAMPTON’S Gabriella Taylor has won her first major tennis singles title.

The 17-year-old defeated the top two seeds en route to winning the $10,000 Stellenbosch event in South Africa.

Taylor’s win was made even more impressive by the fact she was not seeded.

The 12 ranking points she earned for the win should take her from 954 to around 750 in the women’s world singles rankings.

That is close to her career high of 717 she reached last June.

Taylor claimed a major scalp in the first round when she beat second-seeded fellow Brit Francesca Stephenson 6-3, 6-4.

She then caned Canadian qualifier Anne-Sophie Courteau 6-1, 6-1 before a three-set success over Zimbabwean Valerian Bhunu 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.

Taylor was drawn against eighth-seed Amelie Intert, from Germany, in the semi finals and comfortably won 6-4, 6-1.

Up against top-seed Naomi Totka in the final, Taylor recovered from losing the first set 6-4 to win the next two against the Hungarian 6-2, 6-1.

Taylor has been in good form recently.

She reached a semi-final and a quarter-final in two previous tournaments in Stellenbosch, while she reached another semi-final at a tournament in Melila, Spain, last month.