Vondrousova trumps Sabalenka

BERLIN — Marketa Vondrousova brushed aside world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Berlin on Saturday to reach her first final since lifting the Wimbledon title two years ago.

The 25-year-old Czech, ranked 164 in the world rankings, dominated Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4, to set up a title clash on Sunday with Wang Xinyu after the Chinese qualifier downed Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-1.

Vondrousova plummeted down the rankings from sixth after missing several months with a left shoulder injury for which she underwent surgery last year.

“I didn’t play for a long time,” said Vondrousova, who was appearing in her first WTA semifinal since April last year.

Wang, Vondrousova’s Sunday rival on the grass in Berlin, continued her “dream” run, adding the scalp of Russian Samsonova to those already collected this week including French Open champion Coco Gauff.

Over in Halle Westfalen, Russian Daniil Medvedev dispatched home favorite Alexander Zverev in three sets to reach his first final in 15 months.

The world No. 11 came through 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (1/7), 6-4 after an exceptional baseline battle lasting just under three hours.

On Sunday, Medvedev will play in his first final on the tour since March 2024, against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik who rallied past Russian Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.