Alexandrova Saves Match Point, Beats Baptiste for Abu Dhabi Final

By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, February 6, 2026
Photo credit: Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open Facebook

Ekaterina Alexandrova nearly met her match in the second set today.

The second-seeded Alexandrova exerted strong second effort to save match point and surge into the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open final.

Alexandrova fought off a match point at 4-5 in the second set defeating American wild card Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 to advance to her 13th career Tour-level final.

It’s been a tremendous turnaround for Alexandrova, who arrived in Abu Dhabi with just one win to her credit all season.

This week, Alexandrova has beaten Dayana Yastremska, Alexandra Eala and Baptiste and will play for the title and a $185,500 champion’s check in tomorrow’s final.

World No. 11 Alexandrova will face either third-seeded Clara Tauson or world No. 101 Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek in Saturday’s final.

The 31-year-old Alexandrova will play for her fourth career WTA hard-court crown and first since she won the 2025 Linz title.

Today, Baptiste fended off four break points to hold for a 4-3-second-set lead. Baptiste then stamped a love hold for 5-4 and earned match point at Ad-Out on Alexandrova’s serve in the 10th game.

In a dramatic 14-point game, Alexandrova held firm saving match point then holding to level at 5-all.

Down 4-5 in the tiebreaker, Alexandrova won three points in a row to snatch the second-set tiebreaker and force a third set.

In the decider, Alexandrova broke immediately for a 2-0 lead. She reeled off eight of 10 points extending her lead to 3-0. Baptiste made one final push at 2-4 earning two break points, but Alexandrova denied them both and won six straight points on her serve closing a two hour, 27-minute victory to improve to 13-18 in WTA semifinal matches.