Dubai, United Arab Emirates (SportsNetwork.com) – Top seed Simona Halep
and rapidly rising Czech star Karolina Pliskova secured berths in Saturday’s
final at the $2.5 million Dubai Tennis Championships.
The French Open runner-up Halep dropped a lackluster opening set before
charging back to beat third-seeded former world No. 1 star Caroline Wozniacki,
2-6, 6-1, 6-1. The U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki was the Dubai champion in
2011.
The Romanian Halep is now 2-1 lifetime against the Danish Wozniacki.
Meanwhile, playing through a sand storm the 17th-seeded Pliskova outlasted
fellow rising young star Garbine Muguruza, of Spain, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in just
under three hours in Friday’s semifinal action at Aviation Club Tennis Centre.
Pliskova and Muguruza have now split two career WTA meetings.
“I feel amazing, I really didn’t expect to get to the final here,” Pliskova
said. “We both have great serves, so it’s always going to be tough to break,
even if you have 0-30 or 0-40, it doesn’t mean anything until you get that
final point. I put everything into my serve to get that final game.”
The world No. 4 Halep and 18th-ranked Pliskova have never met at the WTA
level.
The 23-year-old Halep is 9-6 in her career WTA finals, including a title in
Shenzhen, China, last month.
The 6-foot-1, 22-year-old Pliskova is 3-4 in her career finals, including a
runner-up finish in Sydney last month. She appeared in five finals last year,
going 2-3.
The 2015 Dubai champion will claim $456,000.
