Second-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova dropped the first set but battled back to defeat Hailey Baptiste of the United States on Friday, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, to secure herself a spot in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open final in the United Arab Emirates
The Russian competitor saved a match point in the second set down 5-4, controlled her serve and won the tiebreak before ultimately winning in the third set. Alexandrova saved the final three break-point opportunities Baptiste had in the game en route to her 13th career WTA Tour final.
Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic pulled off the upset over Denmark’s third-seeded Clara Tauson 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 to claim the other spot in the final. Bejlek, who had to come through qualifying to even make the tournament, has dropped just one set in the main draw and will be competing in her first WTA final.
Ostrava Open
Great Britain’s Katie Boulter cruised into the finals after taking down Katie Volynets in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Boulter converted five of her 11 break-point chances while being broken just once in seven opportunities on her serve. She won 69.7% of her first-service points, including going 11-for-12 in the first set.
Boulter will meet Tamara Korpatsch in the final after the German also won in straight sets, downing France’s Diane Parry 6-4, 6-4. Despite yielding six double faults, Korpatsch saved 6 of 9 break points.
Transylvania Open
Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu defended her No. 1 seed with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova to book a spot in the finals in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
It was a back-and-forth affair that lasted 2 hours and 48 minutes and saw both Raducanu (73.7%) and Oliynykova (72.3%) post nearly identical first-serve percentages. Raducanu pressed for the win in the final set with six break opportunities and converted two of them to snap a six-match losing streak in deciding sets.
No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea won in a speedy 56 minutes to meet Raducanu in the final as she took down Ukraine’s Daria Snigur 6-0, 6-3. The Romanian never lost her serve and broke Snigur four times.
–Field Level Media
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