Monterrey Open: First-time WTA titlist guaranteed as Noskova upsets Navarro to set up final against Sun

Linda Noskova, from the Czech Republic, reached the final of the Monterrey Open by defeating Emma Navarro, the second seed, 7-6 (7), 7-5 at Sonoma Club on Friday.

Noskova and Navarro remained inseparable for the first 12 games of the match with zero break point conversions, thus inducing a tiebreaker. The American saved two set points in the tiebreaker but the Czech cashed in on the third to take the lead.

The second set panned out differently with both players breaking each other back and forth. The sixth seed, however, edged out with three breaks against Navarro’s two to claim the semi-final in under two hours.

Noskova will play Lulu Sun, the unseeded contender from New Zealand, in her first final of the 2024 season. The two finalists recently came face-to-face in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, where Sun registered a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory. This will be the third career final for the Czech teen and she is aiming to win her first career title. It also marked the eighth top 20 win (fourth in 2024) of her career.

Sun overcame third seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(6) in her semi-final effort. In the previous rounds, she bettered the likes of Erika Andreeva, Maria Lourdes Carle, and Chloe Paquet.

Noskova, on the other hand, beat qualifier Anna Danilina, Xiyu Wang, and No 5 seed Elina Svitolina before the semi-finals. Notably, she is yet to drop a set in Monterrey.

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