Alexandrova clinches victory and Sorribes Tormo's resilience prevails, will face each other into the final showdown

Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Zhu Lin and Sorribes Tormo overcame Tatjana Maria to face each other in the final of the Cleveland Open.

In the first match of the day, Zhu Lin faced off against Ekaterina Alexandrova. The 23-year-old Chinese player was aiming to reach the second singles final of her career. Her first title came in February 2023 when she won the WTA 250 Hua Hin Championships Open.

Zhu reached the semifinals by eliminating the first seed and world No. 7 Caroline Garcia. On the other hand, Alexandrova was the only seeded player to make it to the semifinals, following the quarterfinal exits of Garcia and Sloane Stephens.

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The 28-year-old Russian advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 victory in one hour and 22 minutes. Alexandrova capitalized on three of the seven break points she had, while Zhu managed to convert only one of her two opportunities.

Alexandrova had a strong service performance with a 63% serve percentage, winning 78% of her first serve points, and claiming 57% of the total match points to secure a decisive spot in the final.

In the second match of the day, two of the tournament's surprises faced off: Lucky Loser Sara Sorribes Tormo, who eliminated Siniakova, Kudermetova (the third seed), and Sloane Stephens (the 9th seed), went up against the 36-year-old German Tatjana Maria.

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Their only previous encounter was at the 2016 Tokyo Open, where Maria secured a comfortable victory with a score of 6-3, 6-1.

However, this time, the match favored Sorribes Tormo. She overcame an initial 4-2 deficit, winning four consecutive games to take the first set 6-4. In the second set, Sorribes Tormo managed to break Maria's serve three times while losing her own service once, ultimately securing a final score of 6-4, 6-3.

This victory will mark Sorribes Tormo's fifth career final, with a current record of 3-1 in finals. She achieved her career-best ranking of world No. 32 in 2022 but faced setbacks due to injuries in the following months.

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However, her recent success has propelled her back up the rankings, and the win guarantees her a spot at least as world No. 79, after being outside the top 130 not long ago. As for Alexandrova, she holds a record of 4-2 in finals, having won the last three she contested.

The head-to-head record shows only one previous encounter, a qualifier match in the 2016 Linz Open, with Sorribes Tormo emerging victorious with a score of 6-4, 7-6(6).

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