Home » In her home tournament, the Palermo Ladies Open, Lucia Bronzetti of Italy advanced to her first WTA final.

0-6, 6-3, 6-3. Four times throughout the match, Bronzetti failed to maintain service.

The first set featured three of these breaks, while the deciding set featured one. Both Paolini and her opponent had four service errors in the second and third sets. At the end of the match, Bronzetti had a 62 percent first-serve point victory percentage, while her compatriot Paolini had a 59 percent first-serve point victory percentage. However, Paolini had a 52 percent second-serve point victory percentage to Bronzetti’s 50 percent.

Irina-Camelia Begu prevails against formidable competition to win the Palermo Ladies Open.

Bronzetti has never been to a WTA tournament final before. She said after her victory, “I’m very happy to reach my first final here in Palermo.

I’m excited to play again tomorrow because we had a good game and fought hard. Also, in the semi-finals, the sixth-seeded Begu defeated the fourth-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo. The match lasted three hours and twelve minutes and the Romanian won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was another three-setter in which the victor staged a comeback.

When serving first, Begu was successful on 65 percent of her points while Sorribes Tormo won 67 percent of her first-serve points. Although she lost her serve twice, she managed to break the Spaniard three times in the match. Ultimately, her 62 points were three more than Sorribes Tormo’s 59, earning her the victory.

The world no. 45 is competing in her ninth major tournament final at the Palermo Ladies Open. Her fifth career title and first in almost five years would be hers if she were to win this one (since winning the title at the Bucharest Open in 2017).