No. 5 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland held off unseeded Alize Cornet of France 7-5, 6-4 to reach the final of the Bett1Open on Saturday in Berlin.
With the victory, Bencic reached her second final of the season and improved to 3-1 against Cornet. Bencic is looking for her first win of 2021, having lost to Iga Swiatek of Poland in the final of the Adelaide International in February.
Next up for Bencic is Russia’s Ludmilla Samsonova, who stunned No. 7 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
Viking Classic Birmingham
No. 2 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia won two matches Saturday to reach the final in Birmingham, England.
Friday’s quarterfinals were moved due to rain, so Jabeur first beat Russia’s Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-0. In the semifinal, she took down Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-3, 6-3. Watson had advanced by upsetting No. 3 Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-4, 6-2.
No. 4 Daria Kasatkina of Russia and American Coco Vandeweghe also won their quarterfinal matches, with Kasatkina holding off Vandeweghe 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinal to earn a showdown with Jabeur.
–Field Level Media
