Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit swept past home favorite Simona Halep 6-2 6-3 in the final of the Transylvania Open and squeezed into the Elite 8 of the Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara.
The world No.14 Kontaveit’s rapid rise started with the Cleveland title in late August, which she followed up with title runs at WTA 500 tournaments in Ostrava and Moscow. These three champion’s trophies won in a matter of just two months put the possibility of qualifying for the Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara within reach. But far from an easy reach!
In order to steal the last qualifying WTA Finals spot from Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, Kontaveit had to go all the way to the title at the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca. Impressively, the 25-year-old did’t fall under pressure! Not only did she reach the final without dropping a set, she managed to beat home favorite and two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep as her last obstacle.
In a battle of two top seeds on Halloween, Kontaveit took the first set and confidently recovered from a 2-0 deficit early in the second set to eliminate Halep in just 70 minutes. Earlier this week at the WTA 250 event in Romania, Kontaveit defeated Aleksandra Krunic, Alison Van Uytvanck, Anhelina Kalinina and Rebecca Peterson.
She has really connected with new coach Dimitri Tursunov. I hope they stay together for awhile. Anett really kept Simona 3 or 4 feet behind the baseline with her aggressive hitting, especially her forehand. She definitely has the momentum going into the WTA finals in Guadalajara.