Guadalajara (Mexico) – Caroline Dolehide’s big week at the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara had another chapter this Friday. After save four match points Facing the Italian Martina Trevisan in the quarter-finals, the 25-year-old American, only 111th in the rankings, also defeated her compatriot Sofia Kenin to reach the final of the tournament. She achieved splits of 7/5 and 6/3 in 1h25 from the start.

Dolehide had already beaten two other North Americans, Peyton Stearns and Sachia Vickery, in addition to beating Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, ranked among the top 20, in the round of 16. Thanks to the campaign, it is already approaching 40th place in the ranking. And if she wins, she will be among the 30 best in the world. She is participating in only the fourth WTA 1000 of her career and has never progressed beyond the third round. In addition, he reached his first final on the circuit.

This is only the second time that a tennis player outside the top 100 has reached a WTA 1000 final. The first was the Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, in 2019 in Cincinnati. Although Kuznetsova is a former world number 2 and two-time Grand Slam winner, she was ranked only 153rd that week.

“It’s an incredible feeling! I’m very excited for tomorrow and proud of myself. Sofia is not an easy player to beat. After being behind in both sets, I understood what worked in the game and I persisted. I had to do it. I tried to adjust some things and in the end I just played smart,” Dolehide said after the match. “Participating in a final is very exciting for me. I have never participated in such a big final. So we’re all very excited, very happy, but the work is not done.

Dolehide does it! 💥

A fairytale week continues for Caroline Dolehide as she books her ticket to the Guadalajara final! 🏆#GDLOpenAKRON pic.twitter.com/PZuexYnPb5

– wta (@WTA) September 23, 2023

Dolehide’s opponent in this Saturday’s final will come from the match between Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, 11th in the ranking, and Greek Maria Sakkari, ninth. In both cases, the confrontation would be unprecedented on the circuit. Garcia has three WTA 1000 titles, while Sakkari has two finalists.

For her part, Sofia Kenin missed the opportunity to reach her second consecutive final on the circuit. Former world number 4 and 2020 Australian Open champion, the 24-year-old comes from a second place in San Diego last week. He currently appears in 53rd position and is approaching the top 30 with another good campaign.

One for the highlight 📥😲

Caroline Dolehide | #GDLOpenAKRON pic.twitter.com/DHgjwWYjLm

– wta (@WTA) September 22, 2023

In both sets of the semi-final, Dolehide was a break down and had to turn around. Kenin won 3/1, but allowed a draw in the eighth game. In the last part of the set, Dolehide played two impeccable service games, without losing points, and broke again to close the partial. She scored 10-7 on the winners and made 10 errors compared to 15 for her rival.

At the start of the second half, Kenin received a double fault from his opponent and again managed to gain the upper hand. The former top 5 player led up to 3/1, but lost her serve in a very long game. Dolehide moved to 4/3, and shortly after counted on a sequence of errors from the opponent, in very short points, to break again and reach 5/3. Serving for the match, Dolehide escaped five break points before finally sealing the match on his first opportunity. She scored 16 to 13 on the winners and made 18 errors compared to 32 for her rival.

Doubles semi-final this Friday
Dolehide is also a doubles semi-finalist, alongside North American Asia Muhammad. They face the Australian Storm Hunter and the Belgian Elise Mertens, top seeds. The winner will face Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealander Erin Routliffe, US Open champions, who beat Italian Jasmine Paolini and Egyptian Mayar Sherif 6/2 and 7/6 (7-4).