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Her opponent in the championship match will be
top-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, who got past
third-seeded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 2-6,
6-2 in the other semifinal.
Kessler, a 25-year-old Georgia native, is ranked 98th in the
world. She had never played in a Grand Slam event before this
year, and she had never been in a WTA quarterfinal before this
week.
Her match against Potapova, a 23-year-old Russian, featured
plenty of problems for both players on serve. Each committed 11
double faults. Kessler had to deal with 18 break points on her
serve, saving 13 of them, while Potapova saved 12 of the 19 she
faced.
Kessler got the lone break of the third set on her 10th attempt
of the set and sixth in the game, giving her a 5-3 lead. She
served out the match in the next game.
Haddad Maia never lost her serve and was aided by 10 double
faults from Siniakova.
Abierto GNP Seguros
New Zealand's Lulu Sun eked out a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over
third-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in Monterrey,
Mexico, to reach her first career WTA Tour final.
Each of the first two sets featured one service break, and the
third set had none. In the decisive tiebreaker, Sun jumped on
top 6-3 but needed four match points to seal the victory.
Next up for Sun will be a matchup with sixth-seeded Linda
Noskova of the Czech Republic, who defeated second-seeded Emma
Navarro of the United States 7-6 (7), 7-5.
The first set had no service breaks, and Noskova prevailed on
her fourth set point in the tiebreaker. Conversely, the second
set featured four service breaks in the first seven games.
Noskova ultimately broke again to clinch the match.
Noskova is headed to her third career WTA Tour final, having
split two last year.
--Field Level Media [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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