Lucie Safarova defeated lucky loser Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 7-6(4) in an hour and 34 minutes to advance to the final of the 2015 Connecticut Open. Safarova will play Petra Kvitova in the final; Kvitova beat Caroline Wozniacki in the other semifinal.
Dominant First Set From Safarova
Safarova won the spin of the coin and elected to receive. This meant that Tsurenko had to begin this encounter with her serve. The Czech number two's strategy seemed to work as she broke at the third time of asking, in the opening game of the match.
For the next five games of the opening set, the server managed to hold her serve without any problems. It was at 4-2 Safarova, with Tsurenko serving, when the 2015 French Open finalist made her move again. Breaking Tsurenko at the first time of asking, she opened up a sizeable 5-2 lead. Safarova would only need one chance to serve out the opening set as she did to 15, to win it by six games to two.
Tug of War For the Second Set Goes the Way of Safarova in a Tiebreak
The second set began in the same way as the first as Safarova broke Tsurenko's serve in the opening game. Having been dominant on her serve all day, it looked like Safarova was going to run away with this match. However, Tsurenko had other ideas. The Ukrainian needed two opportunities to break but she took the second one, thanks to a forehand unforced error from her Czech counterpart. Now level at 1-all, Tsurenko's woes on serve evident as she went down 0-40 on her serve, once again. To her credit, she continued to fight and thanks to some great play and unforced errors from Safarova, she managed to claw her way to deuce. Unfortunately for Tsurenko, two costly backhand unforced errors gifted the break straight back to Safarova. Now up 2-1, the Czech was looking to consolidate the break, which she did to 30. Safarova had returned to the ascendancy as she broke Tsurenko once more to go up a double break and 4-1 in the second set. Could the Ukrainian fight back?
Tsurenko was not prepared to go down without a fight. In the next game, the Ukrainian was timing the ball better and she was able to move Safarova from side-to-side, without making many unforced errors. Sure enough, her efforts were being rewarded as she recovered one of the breaks back. In Tsurenko's next service game, the biggest question was: Could she hold her serve? Having been broken five times already in the match, there was definitely some doubt in the back of her mind. However, she continued to fight and as a result, she dug out of a 0-30 hole to hold serve. The momentum was slowly shifting onto Tsurenko's side now... Could Safarova stop the rot?
With the Ukrainian timing the ball better, the Czech was having trouble countering everything her opponent got back. Because of this, Tsurenko had set up a break point opportunity that she took at the first time of asking. She had recovered both breaks of serve to level the match at four games all. Could she use her momentum to go up a lead for the first time in the match?
Unfortunately for Tsurenko, she was unable to as she was broken again. Safarova would serve for the match up five games to four. The Czech had a match point in the next game but she was unable to take it. The Ukrainian knew this was her last chance to break serve to stay in the match so she had to do something drastic to stay alive. To her credit, she did just that. Playing some spectacular defence, Tsurenko managed to break back thanks to a forehand unforced error from Safarova. Even though she had only held serve twice in the whole match, Tsurenko's belief in herself helped her hold serve, as well as go up a lead for the first time in the match. The Czech was not ready to surrender this second set just yet as she held to 15 to force a second set tiebreak.
The first two points of the tiebreak went against the server before Safarova held her second service point to go up 2-1. The next three points went to the server. After the first changeover of the tiebreak, the tiebreak was tied at 3-all. Sensing her opportunity, Tsurenko was swinging freely and it paid off. Forcing a backhand error from Safarova, she was up a mini-break for the first time of the seven point shootout. Now up 4-3, the tiebreak was on the Ukrainian's racquet but a costly backhand unforced error would give the mini-break straight back to the Czech.
All of a sudden, it was Safarova who was swinging more freely as she hit a stunning forehand down the line to go up a 5-4 lead in the tiebreak. Now with the match on her strings, the former French Open finalist was able to be more consistent than the lucky loser and in the end, it was Safarova who was too tough for Tsurenko, winning the match 6-2, 7-6(4). Both women will meet again in the first round of this year's US Open, which starts in less than 72 hours.