Bulgarian tennis player of Armenian origin Magdalena Maleeva-Berberian returned to competitive tennis after a five-year absence and won the Bulgarian championship.

On October 1, Maleeva-Berberian beat Izabela Shinikova 6-4 6-4 in the final in the southern town of Plovdiv.

"I had a great desire to compete once again and I'm happy with my participation here," the 35-year-old tennis player said. "But I don't think I achieved something special as some of the top names were missing."

Maleeva, who reached a career-high ranking of fourth in the world in 1996, clinched her first Bulgarian title at the age of 13 in 1988 to become the youngest winner. She won 10 WTA titles before retiring in 2005, Reuters reported.