Ekaterina Alexandrova fought back from a set down and saved a match point to defeat Hailey Baptiste and advance to the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open final. She will face qualifier Sara Bejlek, who outlasted Clara Tauson in a three-set semifinal thriller to reach her first WTA final. The 20-year-old Czech has impressed all week, coming through qualifying to challenge for her maiden title.
Ekaterina Alexandrova's path to her 13th career WTA final was anything but straightforward at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open. On Friday evening, the No. 2 seed dropped the first set 3-6 to Hailey Baptiste and faced a match point on her serve at 5-4 in the second. She erased the opportunity, held serve, and won the tiebreak 7-6(5) after trailing 4-5, forcing a decisive third set.
Alexandrova took control early in the decider, holding to start and breaking for 2-0. Despite a brief lapse while leading 4-2, she steadied to secure a 6-3 victory in two and a half hours. The win guarantees her return to the Top 10 and featured 33 winners, though she committed 59 unforced errors and won only 4 of 13 net points. "It feels great," Alexandrova said in her on-court interview. "I didn’t think about that during the match. After this difficult match, I think it’s pretty good news."
Her opponent, 20-year-old Sara Bejlek, earned her spot by defeating No. 3 seed Clara Tauson 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in a 2-hour, 49-minute semifinal. Starting outside the Top 100, Bejlek won two qualifying matches before upsetting Ashlyn Krueger, No. 7 Jelena Ostapenko, Sonay Kartal, and now Tauson—her first Top 20 victory. In the match, she saved two break points to hold for 5-4 in the first set, then broke Tauson after a medical timeout for the Dane's right foot issue. Tauson rallied to win the second set, but Bejlek traded breaks in the third before converting on her fourth break point at 5-5 to lead 6-5 and close out the win.
"I’m trying to fight for every ball no matter what," Bejlek said. "I’m super tired." The final, set for Saturday at 5 p.m. local time, marks their first meeting. Bejlek, playing her seventh match in eight days, could crack the Top 50 with a win, while Alexandrova seeks her second WTA 500 title.
