Usue Maitane Arconada is not the toughest challenge Nicole Gibbs has faced this year, but it would be a blessing if she is the most relentless.

Arconada won the first 11 games against Gibbs in Sunday’s final of the second annual Tennis Championships of Honolulu. After a brief detour from her Simona Halep impersonation, the 20-year-old American — via Argentina and Puerto Rico — closed out a 6-0, 6-2 victory.

About 200 spectators squeezed into the shady bleachers at the University of Hawaii courts to watch Gibbs chase Arconada’s arsenal.

Ultimately her chase ended in futility, but it was Gibbs’ first tournament back since withdrawing from the French Open to have surgery for salivary gland cancer. It was easy to put into perspective.

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“I was actually pleasantly surprised where I was this week,” said Gibbs, the tournament’s second seed with her No. 129 world ranking. “I thought I’d be a lot worse off physically. I made it through a lot of tough matches.

“I came up short in the final in a pretty big way, but my opponent played really well so I can’t be too upset about where I’m at this week.”

Gibbs, who won back-to-back NCAA singles championships at Stanford, did not go down without a fight.

The first set lasted 30 minutes and was full of long rallies and break opportunities. Arconada converted three of her four while Gibbs was 0-for-3.

The rallies got longer as Gibbs sprinted after Arconada’s aggressive blasts in the second set. Still, it was 5-0 as the match hit the hour mark. Arconada, exceptionally quick, threw her entire body into almost every shot, but was versatile enough to end a few of the longest rallies with precise drop shots Gibbs could only stare at in frustration.

“I was very solid overall,” Arconada said. “Mentally I’m always very concentrated and try to stay within myself and be aggressive.”

She rode that fine line to the finish, after a couple nervous moments gave Gibbs two straight games. Neither player felt the momentum shift.

“When you are down 6-0, 5-0, the operative concern is not leaving the court love and love,” Gibbs said with a wry grin. “She’s feisty, doesn’t give you an inch. She’s clearly playing really confidently right now. Anybody playing with that kind of confidence is tough to beat, especially when you feel your legs are not quite with you.”

Arconada, seeded fifth here, should lift her No. 214 ranking near the 100s with her third consecutive USTA Pro Circuit victory. She collected $9,142 of the $60,000 purse and 80 ranking points Sunday.

Her focus now is to get into the U.S. Open, after she returns from the Pan American Games in Peru.

Gibbs’ focus, beyond her health, is tonight’s World Team Tennis match in Florida. She hopes the team format will help bring back her fitness. The 26-year-old was ranked 68th three years ago and reached the third round at the U.S. Open in 2014 and the Australian Open in 2017.

Gibbs fought through a pair of three-setters to reach Sunday’s final and was going after her eighth Pro Circuit victory.

Arconada put a quick end to that, dictating from the start and denying every strategy Gibbs threw at her. Arconada also won the doubles title Saturday with Caroline Dolehide, who went 2 hours and 41 minutes with Gibbs in their semifinal.

There were seven Americans in the final eight at the Tennis Championships of Honolulu, which was the first leg of the 2019 U.S. Open Women’s Wild Card Challenge. At the end of the five-week challenge, the American woman who has earned the most points gets a wild-card entry into the U.S. Open.