The 2021 Viking International Eastbourne has set its finalists on both the WTA and ATP sides. Out of the four semifinal matches, only one went the distance. Sadly, on the women’s side Camila Giorgi had to retire from the match in the first set due to an injury. Here is a quick round up on how these four players got into the women’s and men’s finals, respectively.
Anett Kontaveit
The Estonian has had a great week in Eastbourne and is prepared to show why she deserves to be the winner of the tournament. In the first round she faced a tough opponent in the experienced Svetlana Kuznetsova. That match went the distance and saw Kontaveit bounce back from dropping the second set.
Next up was Canadian superstar Bianca Andreescu. She easily defeated Andreescu in straight sets and showed everyone that she was going to be a real threat going forward. In the quarterfinals she played against Viktorija Golubic. She lost the first set but bounced back and won the next two sets in which were very even sets.
Lastly, in the semifinal she played Camila Giorgi, but the match did not last long. The Italian retired from the match in the first set, granting Kontaveit the ticket to the final.
Jelena Ostapenko
The young Latvian is rediscovering her fine form that she showed back in 2017 when she surprisingly won the French Open. The heavy hitter started the tournament out very strong as she dispatched this year’s French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. After that she defeated an in-form Ons Jabeur, who had just come from winning the Birmingham Classic a few days prior.
In her quarterfinal match, Ostapenko defeated another in-form player in Daria Kasatkina, who had reached the final at the Birmingham Classic. That match went the distance and saw the Latvian being too strong for the Russian. Further into the semifinals, she easily dispatched Elena Rybakina. The Kazakh did not look like herself throughout the match and Ostapenko took advantage of that.
Alex de Minaur
The young Australian is in another final this year. He has had a great week on grass, starting with a straights sets win against Liam Broady. He then took out Vasek Pospisil in straight sets as well. In the semifinals he played against Kwon Soon-woo who took him to a second set tie break. This was the only time the Aussie looked to be challenged all week.
However, de Minaur came through the second set tie break and booked himself to the final in Eastbourne. Now, he will face a real test in the final and we will see if he can keep up the good work or it was his good luck in drawing easy opponents throughout the tournament.
Lorenzo Sonego
The Italian is playing well on grass and has only dropped one set thus far. His first two matches were really straightforward except for the second set against Alexander Bublik. In the semifinal Max Purcell took a set from him and forced a deciding set.
Sonego bounced back and showed his skills and thrashed the Australian to win the third and final set 6-1. He will face another Australian player but this time it will be Australia’s top seeded player.
Super Saturday Showdown
The WTA final will see Anett Kontaveit face Jeļena Ostapenko. These two players have played against each other twice with the Estonian winning both encounters. The most recent match was back in 2018 when they met in the Australian Open. They went the full distance, and that could happen in this final as well. Both players have been playing well all week and will try to solidify their fine week with a trophy.
The ATP final will see Alex De Minaur take on Lorenzo Sonego. These two have met just once and that was last year at the ATP Masters 1000 Paris France. The Australian took the win in straight sets. However, this match will be on grass and not at an indoor hard court. Sonego for sure will try to seek revenge for losing that match and we will see if he can accomplish that or not.
Main Photo from Getty.
