The fifth seed Magda Linette will take on the world No. 79 Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the finals of the 2022 Abierto Tampico.
The experienced campaigner has reached her third final in 2022. Linette could not get over the line in her previous two finals at the ITF event in Poland and the Chennai Open. This time, she would be determined to leave no stone unturned and bag the title.
Linette began her campaign with a dominant performance against Bianca Jolie Fernandez and won the match 6-3, 6-0. The domination continued in the round of 16 as she got past Renata Zarazua in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. The 30-year-old faced her biggest test in the tournament when she took on the top seed Elise Mertens in the quarterfinals. The first set was an evenly-contested affair that Linette won by holding her nerves. The second set was a lopsided affair as Linette won the match 7-5, 6-2. The Polish veteran was taken to the limit by Rebecca Marino in the semis. Linette lost the first set but bounced back to win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The 21-year-old has been a revelation in the tournament so far. Her exploits on clay were far more promising coming into the tournament. However, she has shown in this tournament that she can hold her own on the hard court as well.
She began with a comprehensive 6-0, 6-3 win against Canada’s Carol Zhao in the first match. In the round of 16, the Italian youngster came back from a set down against the second seed Marie Bouzkova and scripted a memorable 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 win. Cocciaretto pulled off another upset win against Camila Osorio in the quarterfinals and once again she came back from a set down. The match ended 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in favor of the Italian. In the semis, Cocciaretto got the better of the sixth seed, Lin Zhu, in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have not crossed paths as yet.
Prediction: Magda Linette to win in three sets.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates