Clara Tauson missed the final of the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi on Friday. In a marathon match of almost three hours, the Danish favorite lost 5-7, 6-3, 5-7 to Sara Bejlek in the semi-final.
The 20-year-old Czech had to qualify for the tournament and played probably the biggest match of his career after a terrific week with five wins in two sets - several of them significant surprises.
In a generally very well-played match against Tauson, she showed a huge running capacity and will to fight, which is why she is now ready for the first WTA final of her career.
In the final, she will face the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is the top-seeded player in the tournament. The 31-year-old Russian is ranked 11th in the world and has five WTA titles to her name.
On Friday, Tauson got off to a good start and took a 4-2 lead in the first set after a hard-fought break of serve to make it 3-2.
But with a very convincing game, Bejlek broke back to 4-4, and at 5-5, the Dane received treatment for a foot problem.
Although she looked a little hampered, she led 40-15 in the following game before it all fell apart. Bejlek won 12 successive points to win the first set 7-5.
Tauson quickly recovered her stylish stride in the second set and found herself up 4-1 after fighting off two break points. Tauson eventually took the second set 6-3 but fell behind 0-2 going into the third set before clawing her way back to 2-2 before she was broken for the fifth time in the match against the Czech fighter.
The two players continued to trade blows and have their share of momentum as the game at 5-5 in the third set turned out to be the longest and most decisive game of the match. About a handful of times, each player had the opportunity to take the lead, and in the end Bejlek prevailed.
That seemed to take the final air out of Tauson, and Bejlek served the match at home.
In the other semi-final Ekaterina Alexandrova fought off a match point at 4-5 in the second set to defeat American wild card Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 to advance to her 13th career Tour-level final.
