Elina Svitolina strengthens her prep for US Open by reaching Chicago WTA final
Olympic bronze medalist Elina Svitolina continued her rise at the US Open, winning in three sets over Rebecca Peterson to reach her first WTA final in 2021 at the hardcourt tournament in Chicago.
The top-seeded Ukrainian, who hadn’t reached a final since her title run in Strasbourg last September, defeated Sweden’s Peterson 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 to line up a meeting with ninth-seeded Alize Cornet of France.
Cornet defeated Russian Varvara Gracheva 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 to reach Saturday’s final in one of two WTA events serving as final tune-ups for the US Open that starts Monday in New York.
Svitolina fired 29 winners, including seven aces, on the way to a much needed victory.Since earning bronze at the Tokyo Games Svitolina had lost her opening matches in both Montreal and Cincinnati.
Nevertheless, Cornet can expect a stiff challenge on Saturday against Svitolina, who has won 15 of the 18 WTA finals in which she has appeared.
In Cleveland, second-seeded Estonian Anett Kontaveit beat seventh-seeded Spaniard Sara Sorribes 6-4, 6-4 to book a title clash with Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 winner over sixth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland.
