Kontaveit advances to semi-finals in Cleveland
Estonian tennis player Anett Kontaveit advanced in a WTA250 tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, after defeating Tokyo Olympics doubles champion Katerina Siniakova 6:3, 5:7, 6:2 in a long and intense match.
The Czech and Estonian got off to a tight start and the two played an equal opening set until Kontaveit took off from 3:3 and won three consecutive games to close out the first set.
The second set of the match was the longest and took more than an hour to finish. Siniakova got off to a good start, but the Estonian equalized the set, after which they traded game victories, until the Czech player took two consecutive games from 5:5 and realized a second set victory.
In the decider, Kontaveit took the lead from 1:1 and did not allow Siniakova to equalize until the end of the match, taking a certain 6:2 set and match victory.
Kontaveit will face Spanish player Sara Sorribes Tormo in the semi-finals of the US Open warm-up tournament. The two have faced off on four previous occasions with the Estonian taking three victories from their head-to-head match-up.
On Thursday, the draws for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season - the US Open - were unveiled and Kontaveit will face Australian Samantha Stosur in the opening round.
The 37-year old Stosur has not been in good form recently, having lost in the opening rounds of seven consecutive tournaments, she won the US Open 10 years ago. The 25-year old Kontaveit has faced the Australian once before and defeated her in Dubai in 2018.
The draw puts 36-year old Kaia Kanepi together with Kazakh player Julia Putintseva. The two have not played each other before.
Main draw #USOpen singles. pic.twitter.com/6W8kCDwBwo
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 26, 2021
Editor: Kristjan Kallaste