No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova advanced to her first grass-court final with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 upset of top-seeded Zheng Qinwen of China on Saturday at the HSBC Championships in London.
Anisimova saved 10 of 15 break points and overcame nine double faults to win in two hours and 13 minutes. She converted seven of nine break chances and Zheng posted eight double faults of her own.
Unseeded Tatjana Maria of Germany spoiled the chance for an all-American WTA 500 final with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) upset against No. 2 seed Madison Keys in 89 minutes. Maria saved the only break point she faced and won 89 percent of the points (42 of 47) behind her first serve to reach her first final since 2023.
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No. 3 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium rallied for a 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 win against No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in the semifinals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
Mertens survived a whopping 11 match points in the second set and overcame 10 double faults to win in two hours and 49 minutes. Mertens saved 16 of 21 break points in the match.
Unseeded Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse also needed three sets to secure her first final on grass, outlasting Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Ruse, who won her only WTA Tour title on the Hamburg clay in 2021, needed four match points in the final game to finish off Cocciaretto.
–Field Level Media
