Sun advances to first WTA final; faces Noskova for Monterrey title

Lulu Sun's breakthrough season hit a new milestone on Friday when she squeaked past No.3 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(6) at the Abierto GNP Seguros to make her first WTA singles final.

2024 Monterrey: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

Sun took 2 hours and 19 minutes to hold off Alexandrova in Monterrey, Mexico and notch her third Top 50 win in the last two months. Before this summer, 23-year-old Sun had never beaten a Top 50 player in her career.

Sun will face No.6 seed Linda Noskova in Saturday's final at the WTA 500 event. Czech teen Noskova will also aim for her first title after she ousted No.2 seed Emma Navarro 7-6(7), 7-5 in the late semifinal.

Sun and Noskova faced off for the first time just two weeks ago. Sun won that match in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, 6-4, 7-6(4).

Sun still shining: World No.57 Sun made waves at Wimbledon when she stormed to the quarterfinals as a qualifier, beating Zheng Qinwen and Emma Raducanu en route. Sun became only the second woman from New Zealand to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era.

Now, Sun is a win away from her first title, having never advanced beyond the quarterfinals at a tour-level event before this week. Coincidentally, Sun's first career WTA quarterfinal, at 2022 Seoul, resulted in a loss to Alexandrova. 

On Friday, Sun avenged that result, but she had to go down to the wire to do it. In the first set, Sun never faced a break point; that script was flipped in the second set, where 30th-ranked Alexandrova never faced a break point.

"We were both holding serves pretty well, only one break in the first two sets for both of us," Sun said afterwards. "It came down to the last few points."

Indeed, there were no service breaks at all in the third set, and the pair settled affairs in a final-set tiebreak. Sun prevailed in many of the rallies to reach triple match point at 6-3, but first-strike tennis by Alexandrova pulled her all the way back to 6-6.

"She did play those [three match] points more aggressively," Sun said. "I was like, 'OK, just keep going. If you do end up losing, you end up losing, but just give your all and then you won't regret it.'"

It was Sun who found a powerful forehand winner to garner her fourth match point at 7-6. There, an Alexandrova backhand found the net, and Sun bettered her career-best tour result even further. Sun is a perfect 6-0 in tiebreaks this year.

Sun was nearly eliminated in the second round this week, but she successfully challenged her way to a match point save in her clash with Maria Lourdes Carle. "I would have been already in New York [for the US Open]," Sun said.

Noskova advances: World No.35 Noskova moved into her third career final, and her first of the year, by toppling 13th-ranked Navarro in just under two hours of play. The victory marks Noskova's eighth career Top 20 win, half of those coming in 2024.

"It was a great match from both of us," 19-year-old Noskova said, after her win. "She didn't really give me any free points. I knew it was going to be tough."

Noskova will hope the third time is the charm as she seeks a maiden tour-level title. Her two previous finals both came last year on hard court, finishing runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in Adelaide and Nao Hibino in Prague.

In the night's second semifinal, there was only one break point in the entire first set -- saved by Noskova -- and a tiebreak settled the opener. Outstanding rallies ended the breaker, where American Navarro saved three set points on her way to 7-7, from 6-4 down.

But Noskova crunched a winning forehand to earn her fourth set point at 8-7, and the Czech took charge in another lengthy rally to clinch the hour-long opening set. Noskova had 28 winners to Navarro's nine in the first set.

A more topsy-turvy second set saw Navarro save a match point at 6-5 with a forehand winner down the line. But Noskova grabbed a second match point with an incredible crosscourt passing shot, and the Czech converted that opportunity to book her spot in the final.