WTA Rising Star Annika Beck ended Mirjana Lucic-Baroni's defense of her Coupe Banque Nationale title with a topsy-turvy semifinal victory on Saturday afternoon.
In the previous round, Lucic-Baroni recovered from a set and a break down to defeat Samantha Crawford, and she briefly looked like staging an even more improbable comeback against Beck. However, it was not to be, as the German withstood a late surge to triumph, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
After splitting the first two sets, Beck stormed ahead in the decider only to stumble with the finishing line in sight. Leading 5-2, Beck was broken before steadying herself to serve out at the second time of asking to love.
"Mirjana played a great match, especially at the end of the third set - she was really trying to go for her shots and serving well, too," Beck said. "I had my difficulties at the end but I'm really happy I got through."
Meeting Beck for the title will be a familiar foe: Jelena Ostapenko. The two locked horns last month in the first round of the US Open, when Ostapenko held her nerve to prevail in three sets.
She set up a rematch after running out a 6-4, 6-2 winner over the big-serving Naomi Broady in the day's first semifinal. "Before the match I knew she was a really good server so I would have to win all my service games," Ostapenko said. "I tried to play aggressive and I was playing quite smart - not trying to go for every ball."
Ostapenko first made a name for herself by winning the Wimbledon junior crown last summer. Since then has made a seamless transition to the professional ranks and, regardless of the result in the final, on Monday the Latvian is guaranteed to break into the Top 100 for the first time.
"It's nice to play the final here and I'm happy. If I play my best tennis I can win. But you just have to play your best and not expect anything," she added.
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