Win two tournament matches in one day? No problem for Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl, who won a weather-delayed quarterfinal in the morning before notching another win in the afternoon to reach her second career WTA singles final at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on Saturday.
World No. 100 Baindl first resumed her quarterfinal match — which had been suspended after only two games on Friday — to record a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over the only remaining Hungarian in the competition, Fanny Stollar.
Baindl, 29, powered through her second match of the day, coming from behind in both sets against 88th-ranked American Claire Liu to secure her spot in the final 7-5, 7-6 (3).
“I’m very happy to win two matches today; it wasn’t easy,” Baindl said on court after her second win of the day. “I’m happy that I could handle that. It shows that I’m in good shape physically. This is good news.
“I tried after the first match to switch off and recover as soon as possible, and to be focused for the next one, and I’m glad that I could do it today.”
Baindl will face Russian Maria Timofeeva in Sunday’s final.
Timefeeva, ranked No. 246, made her first WTA final in dramatic style, coming into the main draw as a lucky loser and needing 3 hours and 11 minutes to overcome No. 80 Nadia Podoroska in a fiercely contested match, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3.
“Well done to Nadia, she played a really great match,” Timofeeva said on court after the match. “It was really tough, and she was fighting till the end, so big shoutout to her.
“I don’t know, it feels like a fairy tale to me. Even if I (wasn’t) a lucky loser, it would be an unbelievable result to me, but as a lucky loser, I still can’t believe it. I’m a bit speechless right now.”
34 Palermo Ladies Open
Fifth seed Jasmine Paolini will be playing for the title in her home country on Sunday against second-seeded Qinwen Zheng, who won in three sets over third seed Mayar Sherif in Italy.
Zheng, of China, is going for her first WTA Tour title in her second final after the 20-year-old outlasted Egypt’s Sherif 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in one semifinal that took three hours and one minute and ended after 1 a.m. local time.
Zheng used an off-court medical timeout at 2-1 in the second set, and she returned with tape on her upper left leg. Sherif won the last three games of the set but couldn’t keep momentum in the third set.
Paolini will face Zheng for the first time after eliminating unseeded Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, 7-6 (6), 6-0. Paolini, 27, who is No. 52 in the world rankings, needed one hour and 49 minutes to advance.
–Field Level Media
