On Sunday, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Anett Kontaveit will compete for the Kremlin Cup title. Earlier in the day, on Saturday, both teams advanced to the final in very different ways.
Kontaveit defeated Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 14 minutes in the first semi-final.
The ninth seed from Estonia won 69 per cent of her first-serve points, compared to 55 per cent for the Czech, and a little higher 41 per cent of second-serve points, compared to 37 per cent for the Czech.
In addition, Kontaveit had 26 winners compared to Vondrousova’s 13 and 22 unforced errors compared to the latter’s 27.
Kontaveit is in his fifth final of the year. She and Ann Li shared the Grampians Trophy in Melbourne at the start of the year when the final was postponed due to a lack of time.
Later, during the grass season, the world no longer exists.
20 played Jelena Ostapenko in the final of the Viking International in Eastbourne but lost.
Kontaveit then went on to win titles in Cleveland (before the US Open) and Ostrava, beating Irina-Camelia Begu and Maria Sakkari, respectively.
Ekaterina Alexandrova and Anett Kontaveit face each other again
Kontaveit has now won nine consecutive matches indoors, dating back to the Ostrava Open. In total, the 25-year-old has only lost two of her 22 previous encounters.
Prior to Moscow, these defeats came at the hands of Iga Swiatek in the third round of the US Open and Ons Jabeur in Indian Wells.
Meanwhile, Alexandrova proceeded to the final as her opponent. The third-seeded Sakkari, retired mid-match in the second semi-final in the Russian capital.
Alexandrova had taken a 4-1 lead in the first set when the Greek had to call a timeout due to dizziness.
The Kremlin Cup final is Ekaterina Alexandrova’s first WTA 500 final, and her third final overall.
Ekaterina Alexandrova moves on to face Anett Kontaveit in the #VTBKremlinCup final after Sakkari retires. pic.twitter.com/18AnbadBaG
— wta (@WTA) October 23, 2021
She’ll be attempting to capture her second career title, having won the Shenzhen Open in 2020.
Anett Kontaveit has a 1-0 head-to-head advantage with the Russian heading into the final. With the win coming in the 2020 edition of the Ostrava Open.
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