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The title clash at the Luxembourg Open will be played between Jelena Ostapenko and Clara Tauson on Sunday. Ostapenko’s the last seeded player remaining in the draw. In the first semi-final, the third-seeded Ostapenko defeated the seventh-seeded Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 7-6(4) in an hour and 25 minutes.
It was a one-sided match in favour of the Latvian up to 6-1, 5-1. However, Ostapenko’s nerviness saw her falter on both occasions that she tried to serve for the match in the second set. The Russian pulled back on serve in the second set and in the tie-break, led Ostapenko 4-1.
But this time with the lead, it was Ostapenko’s turn to strike back and she did so thoroughly, winning six consecutive points to wrap up the win in straight sets. Ostapenko, who’s the defending champion this week in Luxembourg hit 25 winners to Samsonova’s 15 and had 14 unforced errors to the latter’s nine.
On-court, following her win, Ostapenko said, “At some point, I stopped playing my game. I missed so many balls and I started to rush. [But the key was] to fight to stay in the match. I played really well in the beginning but I couldn't close it - I had to fight and enjoy it”.
Luxembourg Open: Clara Tauson pips Marketa Vondrousova
In her semi-final against fifth seed Marketa Vondrousova, Tauson needed to battle two hours and three minutes before completing a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory. An early break helped Tauson take the lead in the match but the southpaw pulled even in the second set.
The deciding set dangled precariously between the two players who traded breaks to start it off. However, towards the business end of the decider, the Dane pulled off a second break of the set in the ninth game to serve out the match in the 10th game.
Jelena Ostapenko and Clara Tauson will be meeting each other for the first time in their career in the final of the Luxembourg Open. Apart from trying to defend her title, Ostapenko’s going for the fifth title of her career while Tauson’s trying to win her second – both across her career and this season. Photo Credit: Luxembourg Open Twitter