Mihaela Buzarnescu fought past Elise Mertens in three taxing sets, while Maria Sakkari raced from behind to down Danielle Collins to set up a San Jose final between two players seeking their first championship on the WTA Tour.
The No. 5 seed Buzarnescu won 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, taking advantage of an arm problem for the Belgian that hampered her in the late stages and forcing 18 break points over two hours and 22 minutes. Sakkari, meanwhile, launched a stirring comeback trailing a set and two breaks to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and reach her first WTA final.
The Romanian, 30, continued a stunning rise of her own. A year after first breaking onto the top tour, she reached her third final and her biggest to date. She did so with a gritty second set in which she lost a late lead but broke back immediately to serve out the frame.
Mertens’ arm appeared to bother her throughout that set, as her serve speed dropped significantly, and became a greater obstacle in the decider. She knocked a weak forehand into the net to hand Buzarnescu an early break, then lobbed groundstrokes across the court that Buzarnescu deposited with ease.
She then hit a power forehand on her first match point, closing out a signature victory over the Australian Open semifinalist. Buzarnescu took advantage of eight double faults and poor serve rates from the No. 4 seed, a far different picture from a first set in which the Romanian misfired from the service line.
Sakkari, meanwhile, looked moments from the exit after she misplayed a high-bouncing forehand to put Collins head 6-3, 4-1. A coaching visit and four straight games later, however, she was back on serve, then displayed her best forehands to that point at 5-6, breaking Collins at love to level the match.
The 23-year-old from Greece — who handily won her first six sets in California — made another stirring run in the final set, recovering from an opening game service break to win six straight games. That included a pair of lengthy deuce contests where Sakkari went ahead and consolidated her break.
Then, she closed her stirring stretch with a blistered forehand, collapsing to the ground in celebration after two hours and 14 minutes.
“I knew that it was going to be a ver very tough match,” Sakkari said. “I didn’t [play my game] for the first set and a half, but then once I got into the match again it worked really well.”
