It\u2019s open season in early February: Three savory Saturday finals on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.<\/p>\n
The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open showcases No. 2-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova versus rising 20-year-old Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek, looking for the first title of her career.<\/p>\n
The Transylvania Open is blessed with not one but two players with roots in Romania. One of them, No. 1-seeded Emma Raducanu, is looking for her first title since winning the 2021 US Open.<\/p>\n
The Ostrava Open features two veteran players ranked outside the Top 100 in a match with career-altering implications.<\/p>\n
In a single day, a total of 1,000 points are up for grabs.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a closer look:<\/p>\n
Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open<\/p>\n
No. 2 Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. qualifier Sara Bejlek (5 p.m. local; 1 p.m. GMT, 8 a.m. ET)<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: 0-0<\/p>\n
Bejlek outlasts Tauson in topsy-turvy semifinal to reach first WTA final<\/p>\n
Alexandrova rallied to defeat Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, saving a match point in the second set.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the start of the tournament, I didn\u2019t think about playing the final here,\u201d Alexandrova said afterward. \u201cIn the second set I really thought, `This is the end.\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019m super happy I could get past two sets. It feels amazing, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n
These two have practiced together several times but never played an official match. Alexandrova — in her 13th\u00a0career final — may have her hands full in this WTA 500. Bejlek, playing her seventh match in eight days, is running on pure adrenaline.<\/p>\n
After winning two qualifying matches, she\u2019s sent out Ashlyn Krueger, No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko, Sonay Kartal and, in Friday\u2019s semifinals, No. 3 Clara Tauson — 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. That one ran 2 hours and 49 minutes.<\/p>\n
It was Bejlek\u2019s first career win over a Top 20 player; Alexandrova could be the second.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m out of all emotions because that was a roller coaster,\u201d Bejlek said.<\/p>\n
How is she feeling physically?<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I\u2019m a bit tired, but tomorrow is the last game,\u201d she said. \u201cActually, when I\u2019m winning the recovery is faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Transylvania Open<\/p>\n
No. 1 Emma Raducanu vs. No. 3 Sorana Cirstea (4:30 local; 2:30 GMT, 9:30 a.m. ET)<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: 1-0, Raducanu, 2021 Wimbledon third round, 6-3, 7-5<\/p>\n
On home soil, Cirstea tops Snigur in Cluj-Napoca; into eighth career final<\/p>\n
Cirstea, 35 and the pride of Bucharest, was a 6-0, 6-3 winner over qualifier Daria Snigur in only 56 minutes. Raducanu — whose father Ian was also Bucharest-born — needed 2 hours and 48 minutes to dispatch Oleksandra Oliynykova\u00a07-5, 3-6, 6-3.<\/p>\n
It was Raducanu\u2019s first three-set win after six straight losses.<\/p>\n
Recovery may be the key to this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a brutal match,\u201d said the 23-year-old Raducanu afterward. \u201cOllie, what a competitor. It\u2019s a really emotional feeling — I haven\u2019t been in the final for five years now. It\u2019s an amazing achievement. The great work I\u2019ve done in the past six months is really coming together.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy only focus is to recover from that marathon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raducanu called for the trainer at one point but said she hoped to be ready to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not used to playing four matches in a row,\u201d she said. “For me, that\u2019s an incredible thing. It just comes with the territory, I guess, because I haven\u2019t been in this position very often. It\u2019s just a bit of wear and tear.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Cirstea, who has said she\u2019s retiring after the season, \u201cThis week has been a dream come true. I\u2019m over-the-moon happy. I will remember for the rest of my life this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ostrava Open\u00a0<\/p>\n
Katie Boulter vs. Tamara Korpatsch (4 p.m. local; 3 p.m. GMT, 10 a.m. ET)<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: 0-0.<\/p>\n
Boulter powers past Volynets in Ostrava to make fifth career final<\/p>\n
Korpatsch, ranked No. 124, was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Diane Parry, saving six of nine break points. No. 120 Boulter defeated Katie Volynets 6-1, 6-3.<\/p>\n
The winner will vault into the Top 100 (mid-80s) come Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this week for me has been about trying to build momentum,\u201d Boulter said, \u201cand I feel like I\u2019ve done that. After a tough year last year, it\u2019s exactly the start I needed. I just have to get my body used to it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust really proud of myself getting through these last few matches.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boulter has dropped only one set in four matches.<\/p>\n
Korpatsch, 30, is looking for her second career title, having won three years ago in Cluj-Napoca.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s open season in early February: Three savory Saturday finals on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,1602,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-413341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-text","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}