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It was a long wait for Elena-Gabriela Ruse that ended on Friday at the Transylvania Open. The Romanian ended a drought of more than two years by reaching the semi-final of the WTA tournament at her home nation. Against Emiliana Arango, Ruse took an hour and 45 minutes to post a 6-1, 0-6, 6-1 to make it to the semi-finals.
Across the first and third sets, Ruse was dominant when it came to winning first-serve points and points on second-serve return. In the first set, she lost only three of 16 points played on her first serve and in the final set, she won all but one of nine first-serve points played.
In that set, she also won 17 of 24 points on return on the Colombian’s second serve. In the first set, the return stat was much more dominant for Ruse as she won seven of eight points on Arango’s second-serve return.
Her game was quite shaky in the second set even as Arango made a strong comeback in the second set. She didn’t face any break point in the second set and converted three of six break points on Ruse’s serve. This semi-final finish is the first for the 26-year-old Ruse since she made it to the semi-final at the Palermo Ladies Open in 2021, en route to making it to the final (l.
to Danielle Collins).
Transylvania Open: Rebeka Masarova keeps her hopes high
Ruse’s also now the only Romanian left in the draw. She’ll play Rebeka Masarova for a chance to make it to the final. The Spaniard, seeded fourth, took out Ruse’s compatriot, the fifth-seeded Ana Bogdan in their quarter-final clash.
Masarova needed over two hours and 30 minutes to secure a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 win for herself. Meanwhile, at the top of the Transylvania Open draw, a German will make her way into the final after setting up a German derby in the semi-final.
Eva Lys defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-final. Lys will play Tamara Korpatsch whose match against Diana Snigur was decided in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.