Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic edged Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-5 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 to set up a final against Yvonne Meusburger at the WTA Tour’s Gastein Ladies on Saturday.
Meusburger reached her second straight WTA final by defeating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-4 6-3. The Austrian was beaten by Romania’s Simona Halep for the title in Budapest last weekend.
Hlavackova had not been beyond the quarter-finals of a WTA event before. Ranked 108th, she specialises in doubles, where she won the French Open in 2011 and finished runner-up at Wimbledon, the London Olympics and the US Open last year.
Hlavackova and Meusburger will meet for the first time. In her third career final, Meusburger is looking for her maiden title.
“I hope it’s going to happen tomorrow,” said Meusburger, who also reached the final of the 2007 Gastein Ladies but lost to Francesca Schiavone.
The 86th-ranked Meusburger broke Knapp in the opening game but missed two chances to go 4-1 up. After four consecutive breaks, Meusburger held serve at 5-4.
The Austrian failed to serve out the match at 5-2 but broke Knapp immediately afterward when the Italian ended the match with two double faults.
“I didn’t play spectacular tennis, I just tried to be consistent,” said Meusburger, who hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament. “I kept the ball in play and waited for her mistakes.”
In a match that included 20 breaks of serve, Hlavackova got treatment for a right ankle injury toward the end of the opening set. She came from 4-1 down to take the second into a tiebreaker before breaking Svitolina’s serve three more times in the decider.