Unseeded Slovenian Kaja Juvan upset No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Friday to advance to her first WTA final at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France.
Juvan, ranked No. 81 in the world, converted all four of her break chances in a 6-2, 7-5 victory against her eighth-ranked opponent. Juvan won 70 percent of the points (28 of 40) on her first serve.
Standing in the way of Juvan’s maiden singles title is No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany, who was leading 7-6 (2), 1-0 in the other semifinal when France’s Oceane Dodin retired due to illness. Kerber has 13 WTA titles, including three Grand Slams, but hasn’t won a trophy on clay since the 2016 Stuttgart Open.
Morocco Open
Martina Trevisan advanced to her first WTA Tour final by defeating fellow Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals in Rabat, Morocco.
Trevisan, 28, will meet another unseeded player and first-time WTA Tour finalist in American Claire Liu, who won in a walkover as Hungary’s Anna Bondar withdrew before their semifinal match due to a right shoulder injury.
Liu, 21, has been red-hot on clay, coming off a championship last week at the inaugural WTA 125 Open Clarins event in Paris.
–Field Level Media
