Marta Kostyuk and Varvara Gracheva will play for the title in the final of ATX Open. It's the first final appearance on the WTA level for both the players, who will try to become the first ever champion of ATX Open in the inaugural edition of the tournament in Austin.
Kostyuk reached the final after defeating Danielle Collins 6-4 6-3 in the semis. It was the only one match in the tournament between seeded players, and looking at the shape of the draw, some fans could name it the premature final. Collins was the pre-match favorite after showing impressive and performance in her two previous matches against notable opponents - Caty McNally and Anna Kalinskaya. The American, cheered by the crowd who filled the stands on Saturday's sunny afternoon in Austin, has not played on the same level in this semifinal clash though.
The middle phase of openning set was somewhat crucial moment for the turn of events in whole the match. Collins was putting the pressure on Kostyuk, who showed some vulnerabilities on serve, and had a great opportunity to move up into the break advantage, with 4 breakpoint chances produced in 6th game. Kostyuk made a big hold after being 15-40 down and secured her serve after 4 deuces in this game. Another one was a struggle for the American. Collins was 0-40 down, but cleared out 3 breakpoints with good serving. It was not enough though, as Kostyuk converted her 4th breakpoint in this game and moved into the lead, which she did not blow away till the end of set.
Second set started also well for the Ukrainian, who earned the early break in first game. Collins responded one game later, but this match did not occured to be another great comeback for "Danimal". The tournament's favorite was quite erratic with her game, making more errors than in the previous rounds and showed some kind of frustration with smashing the racquet on the court after facing another break in 5th game of second set. Kostyuk made difficult conditions for Collins, as she was no less active in the rallies and did not allow Collins to get overpowered by the key weapons of the American. The match did not bring any turnover and Kostyuk advanced into her maiden career's WTA final after just 85 minutes of play. "Obviously a special moment, very emotional. I have lost 4 semifinals prior to this match today, and I did not know what to expect. Danielle is a great player, a great champion. Very happy that the match turned out this way today." - said the Ukrainian in post-match interview.
Varvara Gracheva advanced into final after defeating Katie Volynets in three-setter 6-4 5-7 6-4. The level of this match was quite low, as both players were making multiple errors and did not manage to stay consistent with serving. Gracheva committed as many as 48 unforced errors to just 14 winners. Volynets scored the same amount of winners, but also made a big amount of UFEs - 41. First set brough 7 breaks in general with Gracheva winning it 6-4 despite being down a break twice. Second set was another struggle for both players to keep their serve, with multiple breaks, ended up 7-5 for the American. Volynets was in the driver's seat in the decider after gaining the break i 5th game, but Gracheva earned her place in the final by winning 4 games in a row since being 2-4 down with a score.
