RISING Russian talents Elina Avanesyan and Mirra Andreeva will face off in the Iasi Open WTA Tour final tomorrow, guaranteeing a first-time title-winner. The young compatriots won through to the Romanian decider with Avanesyan forced to do double duty – winning her quarter final and semi-final on the same day – while top seed Andreeva spent more than two and a half fours on court herself in a three-set win.

Avanesyan had to overcome homecourt hope and third seed Jaqueline Cristian in the quarter final 7-5 6-4, before going on to win against Frenchwoman Chloe Paquet later in the day looking fresh as a daisy in a 6-2 6-3 win. The Russian spent a total of three hours and 37 minutes on court, which while not ideal heading into the final was only 59 minutes more than Andreeva.

The top seed had to grind past Serbian Olga Danilovic in two hours and 38 minutes before winning 3-6 6-3 7-6 in a come-from-behind victory, getting up 7-1 in the deciding set tiebreak. Andreeva has made a habit of coming from behind to win, claiming her 17th victory after going down a set, though she was also on the ropes in the decider, fighting back from 5-2 down to rally level and starving off match points along the way.

“Honestly, I imagined that I already lost the match, so I just changed my mindset and just go for it, no matter what,” Andreeva said post-match. “I tried to keep playing my aggressive game, but the most important [thing] was finding the balance between rushing and waiting for the mistakes. I managed to find the balance today in this match.

“It was an amazing battle. She’s an amazing player, very talented. It was very hard to play against her, and I’m very happy with my win today.”

Avanesyan watched on before her second match of the day and would have enjoyed her younger compatriot having to work hard to reach the final, before cruising through in much easier circumstances against Paquet in her semi-final.

Needing just the 93 minutes to win her semi, Avanesyan won in straight sets off the back of a dominant first serve percentage of 83, while winning 39 of 52 points off serve, and saving all five break points she faced. The world number 76 also broke three times from 11 chances to secure her place in her first ever WTA Tour final.

Regardless of who wins between Andreeva and Avanesyan, a first time title-winner will be crowned in their first ever WTA Tour final. Top seed Andreeva will start favourite, but Avanesyan’s form across yesterday showed she will be a handful and more than capable of knocking off her teenage countrywoman.

They last faced off back in Rouen a few months ago, where Andreeva emerged victorious 7-5 6-4 in a tight contest, however both have fantastic records on clay and have each only conceded one set for the entire tournament.