New York, NY, USA; Heather Watson of Great Britain returns a shot to Alize Cornet of France on day one of the U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Aug 28, 2017 Reuters
Defending champion Elise Mertens of Belgium reached the Hobart International final with a 6-4 1-6 6-2 win over British qualifier Heather Watson on Friday.
The second-seeded Mertens recovered from a second-set lapse to edge out Watson, who won the tournament in 2015, in one hour and 42 minutes.
The 22-year-old world number 36 will play Mihaela Buzarnescu in Saturday's final after the Romanian sailed past fifth-seeded Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko 6-2 6-2 in the second semi-final.
"She made the same run (from qualifying) as I did last year, but I'm happy to win today," Mertens said in an on-court interview.
"I gave it all today, and I'm still playing doubles later.
"I tried to play a bit more aggressive in the third set and make her run a little bit more. She was dictating me in the second set, all credits to her. She played an amazing match."
After a tight opener which was decided by a single break of serve, Watson, ranked 74th in the world, fought back to square the match but her hopes of winning a fourth WTA title were dashed due to unforced errors.
"(It is) just frustrating. Thought I made too many unforced errors," Watson said. "Because I'd been playing so well, I expected more of myself."
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Short link: