Fourth-seeded Russian Daria Kasatkina recorded four aces while rolling to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over top-seeded Elise Mertens on Saturday to reach the Mubadala Silicon Classic title match.
Kasatkina had 22 winners against 11 unforced errors during the semifinal match to reach her fourth final of the season. She has won twice this season, at the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne and the St. Petersburg Ladies Open in Russia.
Mertens of Belgium registered 20 winners but committed 25 unforced errors and seven double faults.
Kasatkina will face the winner of Saturday night’s clash between seventh-seeded American Danielle Collins and Croatia’s Ana Konjuh. Collins is looking to reach her second straight final — she won at Palermo, Italy, on July 25.
Winners Open
Mayar Sherif became the first Egyptian to reach a WTA final by defeating Mihaela Buzarnescu 7-6 (1), 6-4 in the semifinals at Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
She opened the week with a win over top-seeded Alize Cornet to mark her first completed victory over a top 100 opponent.
In the final, she will face No. 2 seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany, who beat Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 6-2 to reach her second final in the past three tournaments.
It was the second win on the day for Petkovic. She concluded her quarterfinal match, suspended for darkness on Friday, against qualifier Seone Mendez of Australia 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1 before topping Krunic.
–Field Level Media
