Anna Blinkova is going to play in the final of the Transylvania Open after a hard-fought three-set victory over No. 4 seed Anastasia Potapova. It was 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 for Blinkova, who has now a six-win streak in Cluj and will play the first WTA final of her career.
Entering the Main Draw after two qualifying matches, Blinkova is having a perfect week in Cluj. She won the latest three matches on the Main Draw in three complicated sets, thus achieving maybe the most relevant result of her career.
Anastasia Potapova started the semifinal with a minus in all chapters – execution, speed, court movement, and intensity. That allowed Anna Blinkova to play her usual game, dictating and winning points with her basic tennis. In other words, Potapova allowed Anna to run wild and didn’t push her out of her comfort zone at all.
When things settled down and she had more patience, Potapova found her intensity – which is not typical but a suffocating one, allowing her to be equally effective on the defensive as well as in the attack.
Thanks to this intense and settled game, Potapova came back from 1-5 down, saved three consecutive set points, and won six games in a row.
The story of the first set was almost to be repeated in the second set as Blinkova started strong again and pulled away to 5-2. Potapova came back again, and got closer at 4-5, but wasn’t capable of completing the comeback as she did in the first set.
The match decider was similar: Blinkova led 5-3, and served for the match, but Potapova broke back and came close to equalizing. Blinkova eventually proved more inspired and accurate with all her shots.
For her first WTA title, Blinkova will meet with the winner of the match Xiyu Wang – Jasmine Paolini.
Smile, Anna! You're in the final! ☺️#TO2022 pic.twitter.com/6HSmdU4ouO
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) October 15, 2022
Amazing week for Anna Blinkova: she is in the final in Cluj! 👏🏻
The qualifier upsets Anastasia Potapova, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, in a great 2h25' battle. #TO2022 pic.twitter.com/ysW95lv9Lx
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) October 15, 2022
Anna Blinkova: "I didn't have this style of play before, but I've progressed a lot with my team, I've developed my shots and started to become more creative on the court. I've realized that this style of play gets me some big results and I can win important matches."#TO2022 pic.twitter.com/7w4086xnyN
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) October 15, 2022
