Russia’s Varvara Gracheva pulled off one upset Friday in Chicago but couldn’t complete a second, as ninth-seeded Alize Cornet advanced to the WTA Chicago Women’s Open final.
Cornet outlasted Gracheva 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals to earn a matchup with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, the top seed. Svitolina beat Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Earlier Friday, Gracheva completed a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal win over eighth-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine. That match had been suspended due to darkness late in the second set Thursday evening.
Svitolina and Cornet will square off for the eighth time in their career, with the Ukrainian holding a 4-3 edge. They most recently met in the round of 32 at Eastbourne, England, in 2019, and Cornet won in straight sets.
Tennis in the Land
Second-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia trailed in both sets but came back for a 6-4, 6-4 win over seventh-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo in the semifinals at Cleveland.
Sorribes Tormo recorded the first service break of the match to take a 4-3 lead in the opening set, but Kontaveit claimed the next three games, breaking serve twice, to take the set. After Sorribes Tormo broke serve for a 2-0 edge in the second set, Kontaveit broke right back for 2-1, then won broke again in the last game to wrap up the match.
Kontaveit’s final-round opponent will be Romania’s Irina Begu, who upset sixth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland 7-6 (5), 6-2. Begu fired 11 aces while Linette had none.
–Field Level Media