Ekaterina Alexandrova finally wins Upper Austria Ladies Linz in third final, defeats Dayana Yastremska in thriller

Ekaterina Alexandrova proved that third time is certainly the charm as the Russian finally claimed Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Sunday afternoon defeating Dayana Yastremska in a thrilling final.

After two runner-up finishes at the tournament in the previous six years, she was finally crowned winner in a back and forth affair winning 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 over the fifth seed in just over two hours.

Despite being in the lead to start the tie, the victory was never really sewn up until late as she went 6-2, 3-0 in the first hour. She lost nine straight games from that point on as Yastremska gained a head of steam.

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But Yastremska started to fall apart and Alexandrova showed superb resilience to find her way through to capture her first WTA 500 title. Three straight games for Alexandrova levelled the final set and she later broke Yastremska's serve from 40-0 at 5-5 before finally taking the title in a superb final service game.

She fell over the line on the fifth match point. A great relief after previously falling to both Camila Giorgi in 2018 and also Jelena Ostapenko last year so not only does she defend those points but she takes home a first title from Linz. She is now 5-4 in career WTA finals as she continues to add fairly under the radar of sorts.

"This tournament was always special for me -- I really love playing here every time -- and now, finally, I can make it to the end at the third time," Alexandrova said in her victory speech. "I'm super pleased and happy, and this place is going to be special and magical for me all the time."

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