Kalinskaya moves into the final in Berlin; Gauff vs. Pegula interrupted overnight

Anna Kalinskaya secured a place in her second final of the year with a 6:1, 6:7(3), 6:1 victory over former world number one Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals of the ecotrans Ladies Open in Berlin on Saturday.

In the WTA 500 grass court final, Kalinskaya is guaranteed to face a top-5 player from the USA – but she will only find out who she will face on Sunday.

Berlin: Draw | Time schedule | Grades

The second semifinal between No. 1 Coco Gauff and No. 4 Jessica Pegula was suspended overnight due to rain with Pegula leading 7-5, 6-6 (3-1). That match will resume at noon on Sunday.

Kalinskaya lost her only previous meeting with Pegula in the 2019 semifinals in Washington DC (Pegula won her first title this week). But Kalinskaya beat Gauff in their only previous match, this year’s quarterfinals in Dubai. Kalinskaya has a 3-0 record against top-5 players this year.

Ascending: This week at the WTA 1000 Dubai was one of Kalinskaya’s breakthroughs of the year. After defeating Gauff, Kalinskaya surprised No. 1 Iga Swiatek to reach the first WTA singles final of her career. Kalinskaya eventually suffered a narrow loss to Jasmine Paolini in the final in Dubai.

Kalinskaya also reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at this year’s Australian Open. Kalinskaya started this season ranked 80th but is currently ranked 24th.

Kalinskaya carried that form into Saturday’s semifinal, hitting nine winners and not fending off a single break point in the first set. Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka fought back in the second set to lead 4-1, but Kalinskaya dragged that set to a tiebreak before Azarenka narrowly won it.

The winners hit back in the third set, when Kalinskaya had 14 shots to Azarenka’s three. At 5-1, Azarenka fended off three match points before reaching 40-0 at deuce, but Kalinskaya won the next two points with unreturned serves after 2 hours and 10 minutes.

It was Kalinskaya’s second win of the day. On Saturday, Kalinskaya had advanced to the quarterfinals after second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka had to retire from her rain-postponed second-round match with the score at 5-1 in the first set due to a shoulder injury.

All-American Showdown interrupted: Frequent doubles partners Gauff and Pegula entered the second semi-final on Saturday evening, which was also the second game of the day for both of them.

The previous Saturday, Pegula had claimed a two-day quarterfinal victory over Katerina Siniakova, while Gauff advanced after Ons Jabeur withdrew from her quarterfinal due to illness.

In the first set of the all-American semifinal, Pegula earned a decisive break, hitting a backhand winner right down the sideline to take a 6-5 lead. Pegula served out the set in the next game, fending off a break point.

Both players gave their best in the second set, defending with excellent lobs and passes. Pegula came back from a 5-3 deficit to save a set point at 6-5 and took a 3-1 lead in the tiebreak before rain came and ended play for the day.