Diana Shnaider overcame a second-set stumble to beat American third seed Emma Navarro 7-5 2-6 6-3 in the Bad Homburg Open semifinals on Friday, setting up a clash with Donna Vekic.
Grass court final unlocked 🔓
— wta (@WTA) June 28, 2024
Diana Shnaider knocks out the No.3 seed Navarro and is the first finalist at the @badhomburgopen! pic.twitter.com/u5dyU2aQUk
Croatian Vekic defeated qualifier Viktoriya Tomova 6-0 7-6(6) to reach the final.
Russia's Shnaider was struggling with a shoulder injury as Navarro, ranked 19th in the world, dominated the second set and went 3-1 up in the third, but put on a clinical performance to win five games in a row and qualify for her first ever WTA-500 final.
Vekic won eight games straight before Tomova fought back and got her first break to go 5-4 up in the second set, but Vekic ultimately prevailed in tiebreak to reach her fifth grasscourt final just before Wimbledon next week.
Looking to capture her fifth career title 👏@DonnaVekic moves past Tomova for the remaining spot in the @badhomburgopen final! pic.twitter.com/1yJ5LxYnq4
— wta (@WTA) June 28, 2024
Vekic will face Wang Xiyu in the first round of Wimbledon on 1 July, while Shnaider will play Karolina Pliskova.