The Linz tennis tournament sees a final of the top favorites. The number one seeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko will meet number two, Yekaterina Alexandrova from Russia, on Sunday (2 p.m./ORF Sport +).
Ostapenko only needed 75 minutes to win 6:2,6:3 against the unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyutschenkowa. Alexandrowa had a lot more trouble, prevailing after a battle of nerves over 3:10 hours against Croatian Donna Vekic (3) 5:7,7:6(4),7:6(6).
“I played really well today and improved from game to game. At first I felt the jet lag, but it got better and better,” said Ostapenko, twelfth in the world rankings, on ORF. The 26-year-old is now close to winning the “Upper Austria Ladies” for the first time. “The winner’s trophy would fit perfectly, I like glittery stuff like that.” In 2019, Ostapenko had to bow to Coco Gauff in three sets after knocking Alexandrova out of the competition in the semifinals.
Herausforderin Ekaterina Alexandrova. WHAT / WHAT / Barbara Gindl
The Russian, 21st in the world rankings, had to fight much harder for her second final in the Upper Austrian capital after the one in 2018. “I was so tired and nervous at the end, I actually just played in a trance,” said the four-time WTA tournament winner, who was the luckier in a game with no fewer than eleven service losses.
In a duel between two players who failed in the first round at the Australian Open, Vekic won the first set after a break at the ideal time (6:5). Alexandrova, who had eliminated defending champion Anastasia Potapova in the quarterfinals, made it 1-1 in sets via a tiebreak after a real break orgy in the second set.
Confidence in one’s own serve did not return in the deciding set either; the game, which was rarely of a high quality, remained hotly contested. It went to the tiebreak again, in which Vekic gave up a 5-1 lead and was completely frustrated as Alexandrowa used the second match point.
After that, Ostapenko had teething problems, but Pavlyuchenkowa missed all seven break chances. After the 3-0 lead, the Latvian quickly showed up on the scoreboard. In the second set, Ostapenko, as the clearly dominant player, gradually increased the pressure and made the decisive push with the break to make it 4:2.
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