Finals countdown: Gstaad and Bucharest

ORDERS OF PLAY:

LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP GSTAAD

Play starts at 11.30am

ROY EMERSON ARENA

Alizé Cornet (FRA) [1] v Mandy Minella (LUX)

Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) / Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) v Alexa Guarachi (CHI) / Desirae Krawczyk (USA)

 

BRD BUCHAREST OPEN

Play starts at 2.30pm

CENTER COURT

Danka Kovinic (MNE) / Maryna Zanevska (BEL) v Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) / Andreea Mitu (ROU) 

Not before 5pm
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) [1] v Petra Martic (CRO) [4]

MATCH POINTS

The top seed will compete in the final for the first time in the three years of the Gstaad event.

Having not won a main draw WTA match all season before this week, Mandy Minella has dropped one set en route to Sunday's final, the Luxembourger taken the distance by Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinal.

The only previous meeting of the pair went the way of Alizé Cornet, the Frenchwoman winning in straight sets in Nassau in 2012.

Alizé Cornet is yet to drop a set in Gstaad, winning in straight sets in the first and second round and also the quarterfinal before Eugenie Bouchard's retirement in Saturday's semifinal.

Mandy Minella is through to her first WTA singles final, although the 32-year-old has won two WTA doubles titles. She does own one WTA 125K singles title, having triumphed at the inaugural edition of the Croatia Bol Open two years ago.

Mandy Minella will attempt to become the third mother in the span of 12 months to win a WTA singles title, after Kateryna Bondarenko triumphed in Tashkent last year and Tatjana Maria won her first career title in Mallorca in June.

Among Alizé Cornet's five WTA singles titles, she won at Bad Gastein in Austria in 2012 – the precursor to the Gstaad event. She is playing her first final since Brisbane last year, looking for her first title since Hobart in 2016.

Petra Martic won the only previous meeting with Anastasija Sevastova, routing the Latvian 6-1, 6-1 at the French Open last year.

Anastasija Sevastova plays in her second final of 2018, having lost in Mallorca earlier this year. The 28-year-old previously won the Mallorca tournament in 2017, as well as the Oeiras event in 2010.

Petra Martic is playing in her first final of 2018 and only the second of her career - the Croat previously losing in Kuala Lumpur in 2012.

Both players have dropped two sets en route to Sunday's final, Anastasija Sevastova being taken the distance by Dalila Jakupovic in the first round and Sorana Cirstea in the last eight, while Petra Martic was taken to three sets by both Claire Liu in the second round and also Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals.

Anastasija Sevastova is competing in her second Bucharest final, having lost to Simona Halep 6-0, 6-0 in the 2016 showpiece.

All four previous Bucharest finals have been decided within two sets.

This year's final will be only the second in the history of the event not to involve (or be won by) a home, Romanian player.