Vekic powers into fifth grass-court final; faces Shnaider in Bad Homburg

No.49 Donna Vekic celebrated her 28th birthday at the Bad Homburg Open by defeating Viktoriya Tomova 6-0, 7-6(6) in the semifinals on Friday.

The victory put Vekic into her fifth career grass-court final and first on any surface this season. 

"I think in tennis when you win the first set 6-0, it's sometimes a curse because the second set is almost never going to be the same," Vekic said. "She's a great player and she made me work for it in the end."

Less than 24 hours earlier, Tomova engineered a stunning comeback to defeat Anna Blinkova 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(9) in the quarterfinals. The Bulgarian qualifier, who bested Taylor Townsend to earn her main-draw spot, saved five match points against Blinkova to set up her showdown with Vekic. 

But Tomova's quarterfinal efforts took their toll on Friday. Vekic raced through the first eight games of the match before Tomova got on the board in the second set. Into the tiebreak, Vekic outlasting Tomova in a crucial point at 6-6 before closing out the win one point later. 

Looking to win her fifth Hologic WTA Tour title and second on grass, Vekic will face No.47 Diana Shnaider on Saturday. The talented 20-year-old came from a break down in the final set to defeat No.3 seed Emma Navarro 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in the other semifinal. The victory improved Shnaider's record to 2-0 over 19th-ranked Navarro.

The match was one of comebacks by Shnaider, who was playing her first career semifinal on grass. After trailing Navarro 3-1 in the first set, Shnaider's powerful forehand took over and the 20-year-old overpowered Navarro to take the first set 7-5. 

Navarro bounced back to force a deciding set and once again led Shnaider by an early break. Down a break at 3-2, Shnaider took a medical timeout to address a neck issue and came out firing. After amplifying her aggression, Shnaider raced off the last four games to seal her spot in the final.