The final of the 2024 edition of the Women’s Tennis Open Tampico It was set to meet the champion this Saturday. It will be an unprecedented confrontation of both players and nations, as the flag of Russia or Canada will fly high for the first time in the southern area of Tamaulipas in this competition.
And this was thanks to Anna Blinkova, the best seed until this Friday, who settled into the duel for the crown by avoiding a North American clash, as she eliminated Rebecca Marino from Canada in the semifinal. She will meet the compatriot of her previous rival, Marina Stakusic, by beating the Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The Russian racket player had to work very hard in an epic clash for the tournament books. Almost 3 hours of a confrontation where Marino never gave up, being evident in the first set which ended with a tie break in favor of Anna 7-6. The second quarter was more intense, now with Rebecca’s response, also to the limit (7-6) and leveled the score.
In the third set Blinkova began to establish her rhythm, she stopped making fewer errors and more effectively on her first serve, in addition to converting break points, diminishing the representative of the Maple Leaf country whose intensity decreased. This opened the way to the European Championship by winning 6-2.
Later, with an almost full capacity, Marina did everything that has worked for her since the qualification round. Her confidence in the game and determination was the key to eliminating Sara Sorribes Tormo in a duel that, despite ending in two sets, was also long due to its intense form, two hours and 43 minutes.
The key for the Canadian was to take advantage of the Iberian’s errors, with seven double faults in the match. From there the first round went in favor of Stakusic when he won the Time Break 7-6.
Sorribes Tormo went all out looking to respond in the second set, however, the opponent dominated and did not allow any respite, especially at the time of the tiebreaker, passing with the seven points needed.
In this way, Blinkova will seek her second WTA title this Saturday starting at 6:00 p.m. on the main court of the Sports City. Marina intends to complete the feat and win her first championship after turning professional a couple of years ago.
Doubles winners
Friday’s day concluded at midnight with the doubles final won by Rebecca Marino along with Carmen Corley, in straight sets of 6-3 each against Alina Korneeva and Polina Kudermetova. The winners and finalists received their respective trophy from organizers and authorities.
