No.4 seed Magda Linette and No.6 seed Magdalena Frech made history at the Livesport Prague Open on Thursday by setting the first all-Polish Hologic WTA Tour final of the Open Era.
"In Poland we have so many good players now," said Linette. "All Top 50, which I'm not sure has happened before, so it's really special."
Prague: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Both Poles advanced past Czech opponents, denying home fans a third all-Czech final in the tournament's history. Frech was the first through, moving into the first tour-level final of her career after 16-year-old wild card Laura Samson was forced to retire due to a left thigh injury trailing 3-6, 6-0, 4-2. Linette followed, edging No.1 seed Linda Noskova in a 2-hour, 46-minute nail-biter 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2), which she sealed on her seventh match point.
Samson, who was the youngest player to make a WTA semifinal on her tour-level debut since Donna Vekic at Tashkent 2012, still dazzled the home crowd in the first set with her shotmaking talent. Frech has been able to outlast all of her opponents this week, though; the 26-year-old has gone to three sets in all of her four matches so far.
An outstanding week in Prague comes to an unfortunate ending 🥺
— wta (@WTA) July 25, 2024
Laura Samson is forced to retire due to injury sending @MFrech97 through to her maiden tour-level final.#LPO2024 pic.twitter.com/uyodz47oI2
Linette had defeated Noskova in straight sets in their only previous meeting, at Rome 2023, but had to survive a thrilling late charge by the 19-year-old Czech this time round. Noskova had made the brighter start, opening the match with a flurry of winners to lead 2-0. But once Linette found her groove, the 32-year-old began reading Noskova's drop shots and tracking down her heavy strikes to turn the first set around. Linette committed just three unforced errors in the opener.
Noskova's forehand proved a devastating weapon when it found its target, but prone to inconsistency throughout. She fired 42 winners in total, but also committed 44 unforced errors. At 4-3 in the second set, big hitting enabled her to break Linette and level the match; but trailing 4-3 in the decider, Noskova threw in a loose service game to gift Linette the first break of the set.
At 40-0, Linette seemed almost home and dry -- only for Noskova to turn her aggression up to the max. The Australian Open quarterfinalist began slamming clean return winners for fun -- five in this game alone, three of which came down match point and one of which sealed her third break-back point.
Linette, who had double faulted on her sixth match point in that game, had been denied -- but despite Noskova's blistering form, stayed solid under pressure. She held on to force a tiebreak, and was the more consistent player in it as Noskova's accuracy deserted her again.
The result moves Linette into her eighth career final, second on clay and second of 2024 following Rouen in April. She has won two of her previous seven finals, and will be bidding for her first title since Hua Hin 2020 on Friday.
Frech was the victor in the pair's only previous meeting, winning 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2 in the 2022 Saint-Malo 125 quarterfinals.
Head to Head
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