Preview Berlin Ladies Open Final: Marketa Vondrousova faces surprise qualifer Wang Xinyu

The WTA 500 Berlin Ladies Open will crown its new champion this Sunday, following Aryna Sabalenka's surprising defeat in the semifinals. The tournament will feature two unseeded players facing off, with former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova as the favorite.

However, her opponent will be the surprising Wang Xinyu, who emerged from qualifying and has already secured four consecutive Top-20 victories. Can Vondrousova make a glorious return after a long injury absence, or will Wang be ready for one last surprise in Berlin?

The 2023 Wimbledon champion has had a tough year battling injuries. An injury forced her out of the entire second half of 2024—after the grass-swing—and she missed the Australian Open at the start of this year due to an injury relapse. After competing in Dubai in mid-February, she again had to take a break from her career, being absent from the Tour for more than three months.

Her return was at the end of May at Roland Garros, where she showed good form reaching the third round—and securing a win against 25th seed Magdalena Frech. The three-set loss to Pegula didn't seem too concerning for a player still finding her rhythm, and this week in Berlin, she's already shown she doesn't need much adaptation time to bring out her best level. She eliminated Madison Keys (No. 6), Diana Shnaider (No. 12), Ons Jabeur (No. 61), and Aryna Sabalenka (No. 1). This was the first time Vondrousova had beaten a World No. 1 in her career.

Vondrousova has 2 titles in 6 finals played so far, and this will be her first in a WTA 500 event. There's little doubt that the Czech is one of the most talented players on Tour, and heading into Wimbledon, winning the title would be an incentive to go into SW19 with higher expectations.

Few would have considered Wang one of the players to watch in this draw, but the Chinese player has shown she's ready to make a leap at the top level. A player who has hovered around the Top 50 for the past couple of seasons, she already surprised at Wimbledon 2024 by reaching the fourth round (defeating No. 5 Pegula along the way).

This time, coming from qualifying, she defeated Daria Kasatkina (No. 16), Coco Gauff (No. 2), Paula Badosa (No. 10), and Liudmila Samsonova (No. 19) in the main draw. The Chinese player has four victories against Top-10 players in her career, three of them on grass.

Wang has a chance to secure a seeded spot at Wimbledon if she wins the title. She is currently No. 32 in the live rankings, although she could drop one position if she loses the final and McCartney Kessler wins the title in Nottingham.