France’s Diane Parry is through to her first career WTA Tour final after upsetting fifth-seeded Ann Li 7-6 (7), 6-4 on Friday in the semifinals of the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, Mexico.
Parry’s foe in the title match on Saturday will be second-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium, who advanced by rallying past the Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartunkova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Parry, 23, is ranked 50th in the world. Her best result previously this year was a semifinal appearance in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Parry came out on top Friday thanks in large part to Li’s struggles at key moments. Li failed to convert seven set points in the opening set, one at 5-3, one at 5-4, then five more in the tiebreaker. Li broke serve to open the second set, but Parry broke back to reach 2-2 and closed the match with another break.
Mertens, 30, is headed to her 17th career final, seeking her 11th event title. She won each of her past two finals, both in 2025, at Singapore and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
Down 6-1, 3-0 to Bartunkova, Mertens captured six of the next seven games to even the match. Mertens earned the only two service breaks of the final set, one early in the set and one late.
–Field Level Media
