ORDER OF PLAY
PATRICE DOMINGUEZ -- 11:00 a.m. start (rain delay)
[5] Elena RYBAKINA (KAZ) vs. [2] Elina SVITOLINA (UKR)
followed by
[1] Nicole MELICHAR (USA) / Demi SCHUURS (NED) vs. [4] Hayley CARTER (USA) / Luisa STEFANI (BRA)
What a battle! 💪🔥@ElinaSvitolina down 0-40 in the last game comes back to win the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 against #Sabalenka and secures her place as the second #IS20 Finalist. She’ll take on Elena Rybakina tomorrow for the cup! #WTA pic.twitter.com/vsSTfVRrK9
— WTA Strasbourg (@WTA_Strasbourg) September 25, 2020
MATCH POINTS
No.2 seed Elina Svitolina will face off against No.5 seed Elena Rybakina for the Internationaux de Strasbourg singles title. It will be the first meeting between these Top 20 players.
World No.5 Svitolina is seeking her 15th career WTA singles title and her second of the season. The Ukrainian has built a tremendous 14-3 win-loss record in WTA singles finals throughout her illustrious career, which includes a marathon win over Marie Bouzkova in the Monterrey final earlier this year, just prior to the tennis hiatus.
26-year-old Svitolina has a 4-0 record in clay-court singles finals, including back-to-back championships at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in 2017 and 2018.
Svitolina will aim for her second Top 20 win of the year against Rybakina, after picking up her first of the season on Friday with her semifinal victory over Aryna Sabalenka.
And the first #IS20 Finalist is (drumroll please...) #ElenaRybakina! 👏 She wraps up her match in 2 sets 6-3,6-4 over #NaoHibino and will play for the cup tomorrow 💪 #WTA
— WTA Strasbourg (@WTA_Strasbourg) September 25, 2020
📸 Michel Grasso / C’est qui Maurice ? pic.twitter.com/fpR1kGb7JS
World No.18 Rybakina is aiming for her third career WTA singles title and her second of the season. This is the Kazakh's whopping fifth final of the year, with her title in Hobart the highlight alongside runner-up showings in Shenzhen, St. Petersburg, and Dubai.
Rybakina's first-ever WTA singles title came on clay, when she defeated Patricia Maria Tig for the Bucharest crown last season.
21-year-old Rybakina's win-loss record for this season stands at 28-7 after her semifinal victory over Nao Hibino on Friday. Her 28 match-wins are the most of any player on the WTA thus far this season, ahead of second-place Elise Mertens's 26.
Rybakina will be attempting to claim her second win over a Top 5 player. Her prior Top 5 win came over Karolina Pliskova en route to this year's Dubai final.
Moving on ➡️ to the final for @nicole_melichar and Demi Schuurs, who beat Aoyama and Shibahara 6-2, 7-6 (3) in chilly Strasbourg!
— wta (@WTA) September 25, 2020
Very entertaining contest! 👍#IS20 pic.twitter.com/MlnqQcX4o4
In the doubles final, top seeds Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs will meet No.4 seeds Hayley Carter and Luisa Stefani for the trophy.
Melichar and Schuurs made their debut as a pairing just last week in Rome, where they lost their first match. This week, though, they haven't dropped a set en route to their first final as a tandem.
Melichar has won seven career WTA doubles titles and also recently made the 2020 US Open final alongside Xu Yifan. Schuurs has 11 WTA doubles titles to her credit, and her most recent one came last month when she and Kveta Peschke won the Western & Southern Open -- defeating Melichar and Xu in the final.
Carter and Stefani have been a regular pairing for 12 months, and have claimed two WTA doubles titles as a team, at Tashkent last season and Lexington this season. In their last two events, they reached their first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open (losing to Melichar/Xu), and followed up with a semifinal appearance at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
