THE semi-finals are almost complete at the Monterrey and St. Petersburg WTA events, with an all-Russian encounter set up to challenge the St. Petersburg WTA 500 trophy, while the Mexico WTA 250 event sees a couple of intriguing names. 

At Monterrey, Swiss 28-year-old Viktorija Golubic ended the run of eighth seed Ann Li, downing the American 6-2 6-4. Golubic impressed serving off a 79 per cent clip, and won 61.2 per cent of her first serve points to effectively clean up the contest. She also converted off 71.4 per cent of break points, which came down to five from seven opportunities compared to Li’s two from five.

In the other semi final which is yet to begin as of time of publish, Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez is taking on seventh seed Sara Sorribes Tormo for a spot in the final, with both players showing some excellent form over the past week in Mexico. Whilst Spaniard Sorribes Tormo will draw on her experience in this contest, expect the young Canadian to prove a handful. 

MONTERREY SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:

Viktorija Golubic (SUI) defeated [8] Ann Li (USA) 6-2 6-4
Leylah Fernandez (CAN) v. [7] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP)

At St. Petersburg, the three-set encounter between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daria Kasatkina was anything but predictable, with the matchup only playing out for one hour and 38 minutes such was the damaging intensity of the contest. Both players had their time in the spotlight during the 1-6 6-0 6-2 battle, with fourth seed Kuznetsova winning the first with ease before Kasatkina forced her way back into the contest to win the second and blow her compatriot out of the water. Whilst not the most impressive game on the stats sheet, Kasatkina was the clear winner with a 61.4 per cent winning rate off her first serve from a 63.8 per cent clip, also winning off her second serve convincingly. She also won five of six break points during the somewhat one-sided battle to head into her second final for 2021, becoming the second player to do so this year.

The 6-3 7-6 battle between Margarita Gasparyan and Vera Zvonareva was fascinating with neither player giving an inch during a tight second set, which the former took out credit to momentum and a clean first set. Whilst Zvonareva was more effective off her first serve on the stats sheet, out on the court it was a different story as Garsparyan utilised her consistency to command control of the match. She also saved five break points at 55.6 per cent compared to Zvonareva’s five at 45.5 per cent, and won 68 per cent of points off her opposition’s second serve.

ST. PETERSBURG SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:

[8] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) defeated [4] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 1-6 6-0 6-2
Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) defeated Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 6-3 7-6