Second seed Irina-Camelia Begu continued her stellar week at the Brasil Tennis Cup after an early roadblock, battling past third seed Monica Puig 6-3, 6-3 to earn her place in Friday’s showpiece against sixth seed Timea Babos, a straight-sets winner earlier in the day over surprise semifinalist Ana Bogdan in the other semifinal clash.
Begu Bides Her Time, Holds Nerve and Serve En Route to Securing Opener
After a rather routine start to this last four encounter, with both players exchanging holds early, it was the Romanian number two who was the first to bat eyes with an opportunity to move a break clear in this semifinal clash, doing so with some exceptionally well-placed groundstrokes, which inevitably forced errors out of her Puerto Rican counterpart. This proved to be the start of a streak of three breaks in a row, as both women struggled to hold their serves until the sixth game when Begu was finally able to restore order and consolidate the second time around, doing so to take a commanding 4-2 lead.
From there, both women would exchange relatively comfortable holds of serve before Puig’s serving woes returned, and Begu was prepared to take full advantage. Racing out to a 0-40 lead, Begu had three chances to close the set out right then and there and after failing to take the first of those opportunities, the Romanian made no mistake the second time around. As another unforced error flew off the racquet of the Puerto Rican, the first set belonged to the second-seeded Romanian; Begu winning it by six games to three.
Begu Outsmarts Puig to Secure Berth in Friday’s Showpiece
Though the first three games of the second set would go with serve, the match was slowly beginning to take the shape of what was initially expected to be a very evenly-matched encounter on paper. However, in the fourth game, it appeared that Begu was in no mood to stick around in the hot and humid Brazilian weather, biding her time to break at the second time of asking, thus putting herself a set and 3-1 to the good.
Not to be outdone, Puig responded in style; her persistence eventually rewarded with a break straight back to right the ship. From there, the pair would exchange holds once more, before the 25-year-old Romanian would strike once more in a marathon eighth game. In a 16-point game spanning five deuces, both women had their chances to close the game out on their own terms, but it was Begu who was finally able to secure the break on her fourth attempt and with it, a chance to serve out the match up a set and 5-3.
While some might have faltered under the circumstances, Begu stayed cool, calm and collected, successfully serving out the victory at the first time of asking to seal a very impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory over the third-seeded Puerto Rican.
Begu to Meet Babos in Sixth Career WTA Final; Aiming for Third Championship Crown
Standing in Begu’s way of a third career WTA singles title is sixth-seeded Hungarian Timea Babos, who got the better of surprise semifinalist Ana Bogdan in straight sets earlier in the day. The pair has met once before on the red Moroccan clay courts of Fès, where the Romanian came out on top, winning 7-6(3), 6-3.