IT was a predictable day at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz tournament, with the top two seeds reaching the final. As predicted in the tournament preview, top seed Aryna Sabalenka and second seed Elise Mertens were just a cut above the rest of the field and booked their spots in tomorrow’s decider.

The final is set to be highly anticipated as both players are familiar with each others games, having spent a lot of time on court as doubles partners. The pair both had to navigate three-set semi-finals wins over their respective opponents, with Sabalenka downing unseeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova 7-5 4-6 6-3, while Mertens knocked off third seed Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6 6-1 7-5.

By winning her match, Sabalenka has secured a Top 10 spot in the WTA Tour rankings, having earned it after a two-hour and four-minute epic battle on court. Krejcikova is the number one ranked doubles player on the WTA Tour, but she was not going to let the powerful, but often erratic Sabalenka get away with an easy win, forcing the Belarusian to three sets, winning the second set and making the top seed play at another level.

Sabalenka served up 14 aces to 10, as both players served six double faults. They had similar serving success rates at 72 and 73 per cent off their first serves, but Sabalenka was much better at defending her second serve, winning 61 per cent of her points to Krejcikova’s 36 per cent. Similarly, Sabalenka powered her way to 15 break point opportunities, but to Krejcikova’s credit, she saved 11 of them, whilst only breaking the Belarusian one less time (three) but only had the five chances.

Now she takes on Mertens who had to come from behind to post a win over end-of-year specialist, Alexandrova in a three-set tussle. Mertens needed an extra two minutes on court to defeat the fourth seed, dropping the first set 6-2 before dominating the second set and holding on in a back-and-forth in a deciding third set. The Belgian was inconsistent off her serve with 11 double faults to seven aces, but won 74 per cent of her first serve points. She kept the Russian in it, only winning 26 per cent of her second serve points, whilst Alexandrova was not much better with a 39 per cent success rate, but Mertens capitalised her chances more, off six break points to five.

“It was a tough one, especially in the first set, when she was serving unbelievably well,” Mertens said post-match. “I think I managed to do better in the second and third sets, throwing in some loop and slice. She hits pretty hard so I felt like if I gave her rhythm, she was controlling the points, so I tried mixing things up and that worked today.”

Mertens has had a good season since the return of the WTA Tour, reaching her second final after Prague, as well as a semi-final entrance at the Western & Southern Open and a quarter finals appearance at Flushing Meadows. As a hard court talent, Mertens is enjoying a good finish to the year.

“I’m very happy to be in the finals, especially since it’s the last tournament of the year, giving me an extra push to do well,” Mertens said. “I managed to get some hours on the court, but I’m happy with my performance overall, that I could turn around these tough matches. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Picture: Jimmie 48/WTA