Mertens races past Burel to make Jasmin Open final
Elise Mertens defeated Clara Burel 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday evening and will play Italian Jasmine Paolini, the top seed, for the title
Belgian Elise Mertens, the second seed, reached the final of the Jasmin Open by defeating Frenchwoman Clara Burel, the No 8 seed, 6-2, 6-1 at the Skanes Family Hotel Monastir on Saturday evening.
With the one hour, 23 minute win, Mertens is now into the final without dropping a set so far in Tunisia. She’ll face a tougher challenge tomorrow most likely, with top seed Jasmine Paolini in the championship match.
The Belgian won against Filipino qualifier Alexandra Eala (7-5, 6-0), Belarusian Iryna Shymanovich (6-3, 6-2) and Japanese Mai Hontama (6-3, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Monastir tournament.
Earlier in the tournament, Burel, ranked No 74, beat Spaniard Cristina Bucsa (6-2, 6-2), Russian wildcard Erika Andreeva (6-0, 5-7, 7-6 (2)) and Italian Lucrezia Stefanini (6-3, 6-1).
Monastir WTA 250, other semi-final result (Skanes Family Hotel Monastir, USD 259.303):
- Jasmine Paolini beat Lesia Tsurenko (4): 6-2, 4-6, 6-2