Elisabetta Cocciaretto upset 2018 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 7-5 4-6 6-1 in 2 hour and 8 minutes to reach the first final of her career on the WTA Tour at the Hobart International.
Cocciaretto fired 34 winners, including nine aces, to clinch the win in the second final of her career.
Both players traded breaks in the third and fourth game of the first set. She came back from a set point down at 5-4 and broke serve at deuce in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead.
Kenin came back from an early break down in the fourth game of the second set before breaking at love in the 10th game to close out the first set 6-4.
Cocciaretto broke twice in a row in the first and third games before saving five break points to hold serve in the fourth game for 4-0. Cocciaretto earned her sixth game in the seventh game to win the third set 6-1.
“It’s unbelievable for me to be here in the final of such a great tournament, and I am really happy about my performance today. Kenin is a very good player. I was a junior when she won the Grand Slam, so for me it’s a honour to play against here. I took the chance to win the first set, and then in the second set she was more aggressive than me. I think that’s why she won the second set. Then I tried to change my game a little bit in the third set. It was really tough, but I am happy about my win”, said Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Cocciaretto is chasing her first WTA Tour final. The 21-year-old Italian player reached the Australian Open Junior semifinal in 2018 and won her first WTA 125 title in 2022. She has climbed nearly 100 points in the WTA Ranking since last January.
Kenin had won the Hobart title in 2019 in her only previous appearance at this tournament.
Cocciaretto set up a final against Lauren Davis, who beat Anna Blinkova 6-3 6-3 in the second semifinal. Davis has reached her first final since she won her maiden title in Auckland six years ago. The US player has not dropped a set this week.
Davis won 83% of her first service points. Blinkova earned an early break in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. David converted her third break-back points at deuce to draw level to 3-3. Davis won three consecutive games with two breaks of serve to close out the first set 6-3. Davis won the second set 6-3 with a break at deuce in the fourth game to reach the fourth singles final of her career.
Davis avenged a defeat against Blinkova, who beat her US opponent in New Haven in 2019.
Cocciaretto cruised past Davis 6-3 6-0 in their only head-to-head match in Guadalajara 2021. “We have played before a couple of years ago, and also practiced a little bit. I think we are similar height. She is quite a fighter and a really good competitor. I think that’s going to make to make for an exciting final tomorrow”, said Davis.
