A COUPLE of three-set epic contests have determined the two finalists through to the 2020 WTA Tour’s Mexican Open fantasy tennis tournament. Third seed, Shuai Peng won through to the final after downing Frenchwoman, Oceane Dodin 5-7 6-4 6-3. The 34-year-old proved too skilful for the 23-year-old European talent in the the end, coming back from a set down to break twice in the last two sets and take out the match.

Dodin looked ultra impressive early on, battling her way to ensure the set went to 5-5, before a crucial break and then hold saw her take the early advantage. Shuai hit back with an early break in the second and maintained her strength throughout the set to level the match, hitting a clever winner and then forcing an error off the backhand of Dodin to claim the set. The third and deciding set was much the same, with Peng claiming an early break and then the pair doing enough to hold serve for the rest of the match. Despite Dodin’s best efforts – holding a number of break points – she could not breakthrough and Shuai had the mettle to hold on for a win to book a place in the Mexican Open final.

In the other semi-final, United States’ Coco Vandeweghe continued her superb run following her first round upset of the number one seed. Vandeweghe claimed the first set against Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, breaking in the ninth game then holding serve to go up early in the match. Samsonova hit back in the second with a break of her own in the seventh game, then took held on strongly to level the match. Vandeweghe picked up the slack early in the third, breaking courtesy of a ripping down the line forehand and being tight with her shot selection. In just over two hours, the American was through to the final which will certainly see her bolster her WTA Tour ranking.

SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:

[3] Shuai Peng (CHN) defeated Oceane Dodin (FRA) 5-7 6-4 6-3
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) defeated Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) 6-4 4-6 6-3