Kremlin Cup: Alexandrova to face Kontaveit in the finale

Kremlin Cup, Moscow Open: Alexandrova after a thrilling upset against Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals takes a walkover in the semis against Maria Sakkari due to dizziness. She will be facing Anett Kontaveit beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-4 in her semifinal.

Anett Kontaveit heads to the finale of the Kremlin Cup 2021.

The Estonian player will be playing her fifth final of 2021. She is on a streak of winning 20 matches from the last 22 matches and a nine-match indoor winning streak.

This is the first victory for Kontaveit against the Czechs player with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-4 in their three meetings. She will face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the finale.

Kontaviet started the match sluggishly with a flurry of unforced errors to get broken and also her serving was inaccurate.

However, she did not permit herself down and immediately broke Vondrousova back at the start and that near-perfect performance took her to a 5-1 lead. Having failed to serve out the match, the Estonian saw the Czech bounce back to 5-3.

Vondrousova had the chance with two breakpoints to make it 5-4 but Kontaviet’s silky smooth drop shot and a bludgeoning forehand saved both breaks and eventually close the set besides her name.

The second set was a similar one, With Kontaveit having two match point opportunities. Vandrousova however, saved both of them to make it 4-5 in her opponent’s favor. The Estonian being the aggressor serve the match out to get the ticket to the finale.

Marching ahead with 26 winners to go with 22 unforced errors, Kontaveit was spectacular in her shot selection. Her opponent Vondrousova, however, could only manage 13 winners and racking up 27 unforced errors.

The Russian into the semis without much action in the Kremlin Cup.

The Russian in the second semis jumped to an early lead with her thoring returns and superb serving. However, the match was stopped and a walkover was awarded to Alexandrova.

Maria Sakkari the third seed, retired because some dizziness was felt and she could not manage it.

This result makes Ekaterina Alexandrova go into her third WTA final, her first at WTA 500. Becoming the 11th Russian to play in the Moscow Open final.