Lyon Open: Kenin fights off Van Uytvanck as Friedsam’s run continues
AMERICAN number one seed, Sofia Kenin is through to her second final of the year after downing Belgian fifth seed, Alison Van Uytvanck at the Lyon Open semi-finals. She will face Anna-Lena Friedsam in the final after the German knocked out her third consecutive seed with a three-set win over seventh seed Russian Daria Kasatkina.
In the headline match of the day, Kenin had to fight off the Belgian in three consecutive tiebreakers, winning the first and most important, third set tiebreakers whilst Van Uytvanck claimed the set win in the second. The world number five won the first tiebreaker 7-5, lost the second one 7-2 then bounced back for a 7-2 win in the deciding tiebreaker for a 7-6 6-7 7-6 victory. The Belgian’s serving was ridiculous on the day, slamming down 22 aces in a show of strength whilst winning 78.8 per cent of her first serve points and breaking three times. Kenin also broke three times and was consistent off her first serve points (75.3 per cent), but had six double faults with her two aces. The American was stronger off her second serve than her opponent, winning 45.9 per cent of the time, but to show just how even the opponents were, the players won exactly 122 points piece by the last point.
Now Kenin takes on the 136th ranked Friedsam after the 26-year-old made it through to the final with a 6-3 3-6 6-2 win over 22-year-old Kasatkina. The match lasted two hours and five minutes, with neither of the players overly big servers, but Kasatkina produced six double faults to one, whilst Friedsam served the only ace of the day. The German was also more consistent when the serves went in, winning 64.9 and 59.1 per cent of her first and second serve points respectively. She also broke her opponent five times to three and earned a place in the final. Friedsam is already up to 106th in the world with her finals appearance, bolting up 30 places, with an unlikely win against Kenin set to bolster her up to 89th in the world.
SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:
[1] Sofia Kenin (USA) defeated [5] Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 7-6 6-7 7-6
Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) defeated [7] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 6-3 3-6 6-2
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