Either Emiliana Arango or Iva Jovic will join the exclusive club of first-time title-winners on the Hologic WTA Tour this season at the Guadalajara Open Akron after the two won semifinal matches between unseeded players on Saturday evening.

Guadalajara: Scores | Draw | Order of play

Colombia’s Arango, a runner-up in Mérida in February, made Mexican magic again with a 6-4, 7-5 win over France’s Elsa Jacquemot in the first semifinal, before Jovic — the youngest player inside the Top 100 of the PIF WTA Rankings — outlasted fellow teenager Nikola Bartunkova in another thrilling nightcap 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3. 

Either Arango or Jovic will join Maya Joint (Rabat), Lois Boisson (Hamburg) and Victoria Mboko (Montreal) as first-time singles champions on tour this season — as well as the winner of the concurrent SP Open final between Indonesia’s Janice Tjen and France’s Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah in Sao Paulo. 

Arango reaches second WTA 500 final

World No. 86 Arango first broke through in Guadalajara two years ago, when she became the first Colombian in nearly 20 years to make the quarterfinals at a WTA 1000 event. Earlier this year, her love affair with Mexico continued as she reached her first WTA singles final as a qualifier — before becoming just the fifth player in the last 25 years to lose a tour final 6-0, 6-0.

There hasn’t been any sour taste from that result in her return to the country, however; she has yet to drop a set in four matches — and against Jacquemot, she put together a run of games at the end of each frame to seal victory.

In the opener, Arango trailed 4-2, and also saved two break points that would’ve put Jacquemot ahead 5-3. In set two, she was two points from being pushed to a decider at 30-30 in the 10th game. But she not only held in that game, but broke serve after denying Jacquemot a point for 6-5 with a stunning display of athleticism. 

Hear her roar! Arango turns defense into offense against Jacquemot

Jovic comes through in another thriller

To reach her first tour-level final — she won a WTA 125 crown in June — Jovic came through her second barnburner against another teenager in as many days. Against Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva in the quarterfinals, the 17-year-old was forced to save match point — and though she led throughout against Bartunkova, she needed nearly 3 hours to come through in the end.

Things got complicated for the American from a set and a break ahead, and she dropped serve for the first time since the fifth game of the match to put Bartunkova level in the second set. In the ensuing tiebreak, Jovic led 4-0 — and was two points from victory at 5-4 — before the Czech pushed the match the distance.

Jovic’s endurance ultimately proved a difference-maker. Midway through the decider, Bartunkova went off-court for a medical timeout — but continued to battle hard before succumbing. In a tense final game, she saved two match points — and had four break points to get things back on serve — before Jovic’s bold play (and just her second ace) combined to put her through.