Defending champion Alison Van Uytvanck rallied from one set down and fended off five match points to beat number 5 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) at the Hungarian Ladies Open in Budapest. The Belgian player will face Czech 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova, who cruised past Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-2.
Alexandrova earned an early break in the first game of the opening set. The Russian player held her service games and sealed the first set 6-3 with a double break on her second opportunity in the ninth game after 30 minutes.
In the second set Alexandrova won ten consecutive points and went up an early break in the second game. She held a game point for 3-0, but Van Uytvanck came back from 30-40 down to break straight back. The Belgian player got a second break to take a 4-3 lead and held on her next service games to clinch the second set 6-4.
Alexandrova won 11 of the first 12 points at the start of the third set and held three game points for 3-0, but Van Uytvanck came back from 30-40 down to break back at deuce for 1-2. Alexandrova broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Van Uytvanck pulled the break back at 5-4 with a backhand return winner on her second break point, while Alexandrova was serving for the match and held her serve at deuce after saving three match points to draw level to 5-5. The third set came down to the tie-break, where Alexandrova took a 6-4 lead with a backhand winner earning two match points. Van Uytvanck saved the first chance with a forehand winner. Alexandrova wasted the second chance after a backhand error to draw level to 6-6. Alexandrova saved a match point with a backhand passing shot down the line for 7-7. Van Uytvanck clinched the win at 8-7 after winning five of the next six points to score her ninth consecutive win in Budapest, when Alexandrova made a forehand error. Van Uytvanck has reached her third career final.
“It’s never easy getting into the tournament as the defending champion.I was just like: “Let’s playeach match. If you win, you win. If you lose, there is another tournament ahead. I tried to keep the pressure away from me”,said Van Uytvanck.
In the second semifinal Vondrousova saved two break points and earned three breaks to take a bagel in a 22-minute first set. The 17-year-old Russian player held for the first time at the start of the second set. Vondrousova broke serve in the third game with a crosscourt forehand to take a 2-1 lead. The Czech teenager did not face a break point in the second set and broke for the second time before sealing the win with a overhead winner on her first match point.
Vondrousova will play the second final of her career two years after winning the title in Biel in 2017.
“I think I served good and I was better at the rallies, but it wasn’t an easy match. I keep playing my game and fighting my match”, said Vondrousova.
