ORDER OF PLAY -- 2:30 P.M. START
[4] Arina RODIONOVA (AUS) / Storm SANDERS (AUS) vs. Barbara HAAS (AUT) / Ellen PEREZ (AUS)
Not before 5:00 p.m.
[Q] Leonie KUNG (SUI) vs. [5] Magda LINETTE (POL)
If someone had said to you before your first qualifying match that you would make it to the final what would you have said? - Leonie Kung - “You’re crazy!” @WTA #thailandopen #huahin pic.twitter.com/93bbJpZdHI
— WTA Thailand Open (@ThailandOpenHH) February 15, 2020
MATCH POINTS
Swiss teenager Leonie Kung has had a week to remember in Hua Hin, advancing to the final in just her second-ever WTA main draw.
She made her WTA main draw debut in Gstaad in 2018, losing to Sweden's Johanna Larsson in the first round, and has yet to play in a Grand Slam main draw. Kung most recently entered the Top 300 in the world rankings for the first time on Feb. 3, and came to Hua Hin ranked World No.283.
As a junior, Kung also had a notable run as a qualifier, when she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek in the girls' singles at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. En route, Kung beat Maria Camila Osorio Serrano - the eventual 2019 US Open girls' winner - Caty McNally, and Wang Xiyu, who'd go on to win the junior US Open that year, and who reached the quarterfinals this week in Hua Hin.
Conversely, Magda Linette is competing in her fourth WTA final, having won her first WTA title last summer at the Bronx Open prior to the US Open.
Linette lost just one set in her run to the final this week, rallying from a set down to beat Wang in the quarterfinals and having also beaten Kateryna Bondarenko, Peng Shuai and Patricia Maria Tig.
Her run this week cements her status as Polish No.1 ahead of Swiatek, regardless of the result in the final. By virtue of making it this far, Linette is assured of making her Top 40 debut.
In the doubles final, three Aussies and an Austrian will compete for WTA hardware. No.4 seeds Arina Rodionova and Storm Sanders are contesting their first final as a team, after reaching the semifinals last year in Taipei.
Rodionova is a five-time runner-up in WTA doubles finals, including last year in Nottingham with Perez - her opponent in Sunday's final. Sanders won Nottingham in 2017 alongside another Aussie in Monique Adamczak, and is seeking her second WTA title.
Haas and Perez are making their tournament debuts this week, and are also debuting as a team. The Austrian is into her first WTA final of any kind, while Perez looks to add to the Strasbourg title she won last year with Daria Gavrilova.
