Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty
Slipping on the lawn, a mid-air Marketa Vondrousova still zipped a forehand winner down the line.
Even when she was off her feet, Vondrousova landed decisive drives.
Making the ball dance, Vondrousova stunned world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4 to charge into her seventh career final at the Berlin Tennis Open.
Playing her first Tour-level semifinal in 14 months, Vondrousova slashed her fourth ace down the T to seal a superb performance in 81 minutes.
It is Vondrousova’s first career win over a reigning world No. 1 as she advanced to her first final since she defeated Ons Jabeur in an inspired run to the 2023 Wimbledon championship.
“I didn’t play for a long time,” said Vondrousova, who was sidelined for three months with a shoulder injury and wore taping on her shoulder today. “I’m just happy to be back healthy, and so grateful to play these matches.
“When I saw the field here, I was like, ‘OK, let’s just try to win the first round,’ and then, you know, now this is happening.”
World No. 164 Vondrousova, who is now 4-4 lifetime vs. Sabalenka, is the lowest-ranked woman in history to reach the Berlin final.
The talented left-hander from Czechia will play for her third career title against Wang Xinyu.
The 49th-ranked Chinese qualifier defeated 2021 Berlin champion Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 for her first Tour-level final. Wang was 0-6 in Tour-level semifinals before today’s win, but maintained control against a red-hot Samsonova.
Masterfully mixing her spins and speeds, Vondrousova played enchanting angles throughout defusing Sabalenka’s prodigious power forcing the Belarusian to dig low balls off the turf at times. Vondrousova was better on big points: She saved six of seven break points today