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Caroline Garcia will take on Ana Bogdan for the Poland Open title in Warsaw on Sunday. On Friday, Garcia came through against Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals while Bogdan ended the run of Kateryna Baindl in their penultimate-round clash.
The fifth seed from France dropped just three games, winning 6-1, 6-2 in just an hour and three minutes against the 10th-seeded Italian.
Poland Open: Ana Bogdan's maiden final
Garcia saved the only break point she faced while converting four break points on Paolini’s serve.
She won 80% of her first-serve points and 44% of her second-serve points. In comparison, although Paolini fared better than Garcia when it came to winning second-serve points – 50%, she struggled to convert her first-serve points and could win only 39%.
After the win, Garcia said, “It’s been a challenging week, especially today, with the big win yesterday (on Friday), only a couple of hours to recover and be ready. Conditions were very difficult, a lot of rain.
I’m just very happy with the way I played, and I stayed very focused on the present, and it paid off”. In her quarter-final against the top seed and the biggest favourite to clinch the title, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, Garcia ousted the world no.
1, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes. Given the way Swiatek had played her opening two rounds, the result seemed inconceivable at the start of their quarters’ match-up. Paolini had gotten through against Viktorija Golubic, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Romania’s Bogdan needed two hours and 13 minutes to oust the Ukrainian, 7-5, 7-5. Bogdan saved five of the 11 break points she faced while converting eight of the 14 break points she had on Baindl’s serve.
This is the first time that Bogdan’s made it to the final of a WTA event. On Friday, Bogdan had defeated Laura Pigossi, 6-1, 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Poland Open. Baindl had upset the eighth-seeded Petra Martic, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Photo Credit: Poland Open Twitter