Mayar Sherif becomes first Egyptian to reach a WTA final

Mayar Sherif defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu in the Winners Open semifinal to reach her first career final.

The achievement is a monumental one both for Sherif as a player and Egypt as a country. By reaching the final in Cluj-Napoca the Egyptian became the first Egyptian to reach a WTA final. Her victory is even more impressive considering she ousted Buzarnescu, a native Romanian on her home soil and in front of her fans.

Sherif has been playing well all week long and it all started with a 6-2 6-4 win over Cornet. She then backed up that win with more stellar wins over Kucova and Eala before defeating Buzarnescu today. The match was a tricky one as Sherif had to save a set point in the first set.

After successfully doing so she won the first set in the tiebreak 7-1. She started off the 2nd set furiously taking an early 4-0 lead. However, Buzarnescu was able to pull it all the way back to 4-4 and it seemed the momentum completely shifted. Sherif stood firm, won her service game and then close it out with another timely break.

The Egyptian will face Andrea Petkovic in the final and considering her level displayed all week long it's not impossible to envision her as the winner. If she does, she will become the first Egyptian to win a WTA title.