Jelena Ostapenko set up a final against Daria Kasatkina at the Adelaide International.
Kasatkina reached the championships match after number 2 seed Jessica Pegula withdrew before the semifinal due to illness. The Russian player received the second consecutive walkover after Laura Siegemund before their quarter final match due to a left leg injury.
Ostapenko beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to earn her third win in their seven tour-level matches. The Latvian player beat Sorana Cristea, Caroline Garcia, Marta Kostyuk and Alexandrova earlier this week to reach her first hard-court final since winning the title in Seoul in 2022.
Ostapenko went up a 2-0 lead with an early break in the second game. Alexandrova broke straight back in the third game to reduce the deficit to 1-2. Ostapenko broke twice in the fourth and eighth games to seal the first set 6-2.
Alexandrova built a 5-3 lead with two breaks of serve in the first and fifth games and served to force a third set. Ostapenko broke back at love in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Ostapenko won four consecutive points from 3-3 and sealed the tie-break 7-3 when Alexandrova made a double fault on match point.
Ostapenko hit 36 winners to 22 unforced errors.
“Sometimes when I had to play more aggressively, the last few seasons I was not doing this well. Now I feel in deciding moments when I have to go for my shots and when I have to put pressure on the opponent, I am doing it better than the last couple of seasons. I am just feeling good and really excited to be in the finals”, said Ostapenko.
Ostapenko leads 5-2 in her previous seven head-to-head matches against Kasatkina. The Latvian beat her Russian opponent 6-4 4-6 6-0 in their most recent head-to-head match at the WTA 1000 in Rome last May. Ostapenko is set to return to the top 10 for the first time since 2018.
