With Zhang seemingly on the brink of a straightforward service hold at 40-0, Yastremska stepped up and hammered five consecutive immense returns, three of which landed for clean winners, to steal the break out of nowhere. The 2015 Wimbledon junior finalist would back that up by coming up with a brilliant stop volley and a spectacular backhand down the line at full stretch to hold for 5-3 and put herself on the verge of a massive milestone.
A valiant Zhang would hold Yastremska off for one more game, coming through three deuces to force her to serve the match out – but the former junior World No.6 was able to pass that test of nerve, sealing the match appropriately with her 40th and 41st winners of the day after one hour and 34 minutes.
Yastremska becomes the sixth teenage finalist this year, and the fourth player born this millennium to reach a WTA title round alongside Olga Danilovic, Anastasia Potapova and Amanda Anisimova. She will get a chance to join Danilovic as a champion against either No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza or No.6 seed Wang Qiang tomorrow.
“It’s nice to be in the final, but it’s sad because it’s the last match here tomorrow,” she joked. “I want to repeat it all from the first match!”
Yastremska, who admitted that she had been struggling to find her rhythm prior to this tournament, also discussed her improvements over the course of the week. “After the first match I felt something change here in practice – just a feeling,” she said. “I picked it up and put it in my pocket! I found that moment when I felt that everything is going well and I could control my game, and match by match I got more confident.”
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