World No 1 Swiatek holds off Alexandrova to reach Ostrava Open final

World No 1 Iga Swiatek battled her way into the final of the Ostrava Open after she edged out Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4 at the Ostravar Arena on Saturday.

Swiatek, ranked No 1, will play Czech Barbora Krejcikova for the title on Sunday.

The victory was Swiatek’s 60th win of 2022, a year which has seen her win her second and third Grand Slam titles, at the French Open and US Open respectively. She’ll try to win her seventh title of 2022 on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Pole benefited from the abandonment of Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic (7-5, 2-2) and beat American qualifier Caty McNally (6-4, 6-4) ahead of her victory.

Earlier in the tournament, Alexandrova, ranked No 21, won against Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (6-4, 4-6, 6-2), No 5 seed Daria Kasatkina (6-1, 7-6 (1)) and Czech wildcard Tereza Martincova (6-1, 4-6, 6-1).

Ostrava WTA 500, other semi-final result (Ostravar Aréna, hard, USD 757.900):

• Barbora Krejcikova beat Elena Rybakina: 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4

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Krejcikova edges out Rybakina to reach final in Ostrava; plays Swiatek or Alexandrova

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