The 30-year-old proved to be the much more stable player against the Czech tournament favourite. Alexandrova visibly caused the top seed problems with her fast game and impressed with both a better serve and significantly more winning shots than her opponent. "I'm obviously very happy to be back in the final here. It was a great match from me. I started well and didn't give her many chances at first. A few points made the difference in the second set, but overall it was a very good performance. I just hope that all good things come in threes," said a satisfied Alexandrova after the match.
The 30-year-old must now show that she has learnt the right lessons from the two finals she lost in Linz.

Yastremska celebrates final premiere in Linz
Dayana Yastremska will play for the title in Upper Austria for the first time on Sunday in her fourth tournament appearance. On Saturday, the Ukrainian celebrated her first final appearance on the WTA Tour since the tournament in Lyon in 2022 and will therefore play for her fourth WTA title on Sunday. Yastremska always had the upper hand against Clara Tauson, winning 6:4, 6:1 without dropping a set, as she had done throughout the tournament. "I fought a lot and tried to be relaxed and have fun - that's probably what got me to the final," said the 24-year-old, revealing her key to success. The only worry was a treatment break in the middle of the second set due to discomfort in her left leg. "It hurts, I have to take care of it with my physio," said the 24-year-old after the match.

A real power duel awaits
A look at the statistics of the semi-final matches gives a foretaste of what the spectators in the almost sold-out Design Centre can expect in the final on Sunday from 2 p.m., namely an intense and powerful match. The two players combined for 66 winners (40 Yastremska, 26 Alexandrova). Yastremska currently leads 3:2 in the direct comparison, but the last time the two players met was in June 2022. Back then, the Ukrainian won in three sets in the first round of the grass court tournament in s'Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. Alexandrova, however, won the two duels on hard court. The winner will receive the unique Swarovski Cup, 500 WTA points and prize money totalling 147,765 US dollars.

World-class doubles as another highlight of the day
Timea Babos (Hungary) and Brazil's Luisa Stefani pulled off a surprise at the end of the semi-final day at the Design Centre. The duo defeated the top-seeded combination of Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic)/Zhang Shuai (China) 6:3, 4:6, 10:7. Siniakova won her tenth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in Melbourne last week and was also competing in the singles in Linz. The favourites were initially 5:2 ahead in the match tie-break before Babos/Stefani put in a final spurt and won eight of the last ten points. The final match tomorrow (following the singles final) will be against the Ukrainian twin sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok. Together with Dayana Yastremska, they could literally ensure a Ukrainian "double victory" in Linz.