![]() Like Gracheva, the final will be her first on the WTA Tour. More: Meet Kondo Simfukwe, the Indiana pastor behind the mic at the inaugural ATX Open Kostyuk tops Collins to advanceĪlso on Saturday, eighth-seeded Marta Kostyuk topped fourth-seeded Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-3 to earn her spot in Sunday’s championship match. Usually people struggle with their return game so it was kind of unique for the return game to come easier than the serve games.” ![]() “The pattern was that both of us started aggressively with the return and immediately push the server back (in the court). “She’s a great returner and I think I’m a great returner as well, so we were both taking turns breaking each other,” Volynets said. Heading into the match, tournament statistics showed that three of the four semifinalists - Gracheva included - had won at least 71% of their service games. The pair combined for 17 service breaks in the 32 games played, a 47% hold rate. Gracheva broke Volynets four times in the first set, and Volynets broke Gracheva four times to win the second set. Stability for the servers, at least in the first two sets, proved hard to come by. “I tried not to think too much and I was able to find some stability.” “I hit some good serves and played some good holding points,” Gracheva said. But it is mentally difficult when something like that happens in such a close moment.”įollowing the crucial break, Gracheva easily held serve to take a 5-4 lead and then closed out the match by breaking Volynets for a ninth time over the three sets. I don’t think that’s why I lost the match. That was a crucial point and it didn’t go my way. ![]() “Sometimes one point can turn things around,” Volynets said. Trailing 4-3, Gracheva took advantage of a timely net cord to earn and then convert a break point to level the set. If I had stayed there, Katie has such a beautiful game, and when you are down mentally, it is impossible.” “I knew that if I lose the serve (at 4-2), I would barely have a chance to come back because she was pressing me a lot,” said Gracheva, a 22-year old from Russia. Gracheva won 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in a match that lasted 2 hours, 24 minutes to the delight of a packed stadium court at Westwood Country Club. Gracheva produced back-to-back service holds after falling behind 4-2 in the final set to rally past Katie Volynets and advance to Sunday’s ATX Open singles championship. In a semifinal match dominated by service breaks, Varvara Gracheva regained control of her serve at the perfect time. ![]()
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