By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, July 22, 2022
Anett Kontaveit scored a 6-3, 7-5 win over Anastasia Potapova to advance to her third final of the season at the Hamburg European Open.
Photo credit: Getty
The third time was truly the charm for Anett Kontaveit.
On her third attempt, Kontaveit served out a 6-3, 7-5 win over Anastasia Potapova to advance to her third final of the season at the Hamburg European Open.
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The top-seeded Kontaveit is the fourth woman to reach three or more WTA finals in 2022. She joins world No. 1 Iga Swiatek (6-0 in finals), Ons Jabeur (2-3 in finals) and Veronika Kudermetova (0-3 in finals) in reacing three or more title matches.
When Kontaveit first served for the match in the eighth game, Potapova broke back with forcing forehand for 3-5. Potapova hit a forehand off the tape then tossed a topspin lob over the scrambling top seed's head for break point. When Kontaveit sprayed a forehand down the line wide, Potapova had her second straight break leveling for 5-all.
Undeterred, Kontaveit cracked a forehand to break for a 6-5 lead and give herself a third shot to serve it out. Kontaveit closed on a return error.
World No. 2 Kontaveit is through to her 16th career final, including her fourth clay-court final.
Pursuing her first career clay-court crown, Kontaveit will face red-hot Bernarda Pera in tomorrow's final.
Budapest champion Pera swept Maryna Zanevska 6-2, 6-4 to streak into her second consecutive final.
It is the 11th straight win for Pera, including two qualifying victories en route to her first WTA title in Budapest last week. All 11 of Pera's wins have come in straight sets.
It's been a career-altering month for Pera, who was spiraling in a five-match losing streak before catching fire and unleashing her career-best winning streak in Budapest.
Dialing in her groundstrokes, the left-handed Pera powered into the final with an 80-minute victory.
The Hamburg final is a rematch of the Wimbledon first round where Kontaveit conquered Pera 7-5, 6-1. Kontaveit is playing for her seventh career title.
Pera has risen to No. 60 in the live rankings with this inpsired run and will eclipse her career-high ranking of No. 59 if she takes the title.