MATCH POINTS
No.8 seed Sorana Cirstea is yet to drop a set in two previous encounters with No.3 seed Alison Van Uytvanck, having defeated the Belgian 6-3, 6-2 in 2014 New Haven qualifying and 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of Linz in 2017. This is the first Tashkent final between seeded players since 2014, when No.1 seed Bojana Jovanovski Petrovic defeated No.3 seed Karin Knapp.
Cirstea, whose only previous WTA title came here in 2008, is bidding to become the first ever two-time winner of the Tashkent Open in the tournament's 21st and final year. The Romanian is the sixth player to reach the final twice, following Iroda Tulyaganova (2000 champion and 2006 runner-up), Bojana Jovanovski Petrovic (2013 champion, 2014 runner-up), Nao Hibino (2015 champion, 2016 runner-up), Akgul Amanmuradova (2005 and 2009 runner-up) and Donna Vekic (2012 and 2015 runner-up).
Van Uytvanck is playing her fourth career final, and second of the season following Budapest in February - but first ever title match outdoors. The 25-year-old is seeking to extend her perfect 3-0 record in finals, having won all previous three in deciding sets: 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 over Timea Babos at Québec City 2017, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 over Dominika Cibulkova at Budapest 2018 and 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 over Marketa Vondrousova to defend Budapest this year.
Cirstea is also contesting her fourth career WTA final, and first in over six years. The Romanian has a 1-2 record in title matches, having lost to Gisela Dulko at Budapest 2007 and Serena Williams at Toronto 2013, but defeated Sabine Lisicki in Tashkent in 2008. Since 2013, Cirstea's only singles title at any level has been an ITF 25K in Bertioga, Brazil in 2016.
Van Uytvanck has not dropped a set en route to the final, and conceded only 18 games in four matches. Seven players have won WTA titles without dropping a set in 2019 so far, with the most dominant title run put together by Karolina Pliskova in Eastbourne, where the Czech lost only 19 games in five matches.
Van Uytvanck, who is guaranteed to return to the Top 50 next week, is the second Belgian finalist in Tashkent's history following Laurence Courtois, who was runner-up in the inaugural 1999 event to Anna Smashnova.
ORDER OF PLAY (starts 1pm)
CENTER
[3] Alison VAN UYTVANCK (BEL) vs [8] Sorana CIRSTEA (ROU)
Hayley CARTER (USA) / Luisa STEFANI (BRA) vs [3] Dalila JAKUPOVIC (SLO) / Sabrina SANTAMARIA (USA)
Singles and Doubles Trophy Ceremony
