ESTORIL, Portugal - The unseeded pairing of Victoria Azarenka and Greta Arn will contest the final of the Estoril Open on Sunday, after they came out on top in two fairly one-sided semifinals. Azarenka's victory over No.3 seed Lucie Safarova and Arn's defeat of Nuria Llagostera Vives, means the championship match at the $145,000, Tier IV event will see two players making their first appearance in a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final.
The lineup for the final is certainly not one that many people would have predicted at the start of the week, but both players have played some scintillating tennis this week and if their performances on Saturday are anything to go by, then the Portuguese fans are in for a real treat on Sunday.
Belarussian rising star Azarenka dismissed world No.30 Safarova, 64 60, in a match lasting just 67 minutes. Azarenka got off to the perfect start in her match, breaking her Czech opponent in the very first game. The 17-year-old was playing confidently and appeared on course for a one set lead before her 20-year-old opponent hit back to level the set up at 4-4. However, this parity did not last long and the world No.68 quickly reasserted her control over the match, breaking her opponent in the very next game, before serving out to take the first set.
This setback appeared to break Safarova’s spirits and she once again dropped serve at the start of the set. Contrastingly, Azarenka’s game went from strength to strength, breaking the Czech once again in the third game before racing away with the rest of the set to secure her place in the final.
"The first match of the tounrnament is always tough and we had difficult conditions," said Azarenka, "but now later in the week I'm enjoying clay a lot. I still don’t feel like I'm in the final, I just feel like I'm in paradise. It's just a surprise for me to get so far as I didn't do too well on clay last year."
Meeting her there will be German qualifier Arn, who overcame Spain's Llagostera Vives in the day's other semifinal, 76(0) 62. Arn started the match slowly, falling 3-0 behind before she had time to settle. However, from there on the world No.176 grew in confidence, breaking back and forcing the first set into a tie-break. Now it was the 26-year-old Spaniard who looked the more nervous of the two, comitting a string of unforced errors on her way to losing the tie-break without winning a single point.
Llagostera Vives was clearly rattled and was broken early in the second set. Although appearing in her first Tour semifinal, Arn was clearly enjoying the occasion and raced to a 5-2 lead. To her credit the Spaniard did not give in, battling bravely to fend off one match point, but her 28-year-old opponent was not to be denied and after 103 minutes booked her place in Sunday's final.
"I'm happy and excited and I don't feel any pressure for tomorrow," said Arn. "That doesn't mean I don't want to win, I'm just really happy right now. I have played really well this week and I just can't wait for the final to come now."
Saturday also saw the conclusion of the doubles event in Estoril, with No.4 seeds Andreea Ehritt-Vanc and Anastassia Rodionova defeating the unseeded pairing of Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 63 62. The all-Spanish team of Domínguez Lino and Parra Santonja has performed magnificently this week, most notably knocking out top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the first round. Unfortunately for the Spanish contingent in the crowd, the final proved to be a bridge too far. Ehritt-Vanc and Rodionova have looked impressive all week, dropping just one set on their way to the final, and will be delighted to have captured their first Tour trophy as a team.
