Romanian tennis player Irina Begu advanced to the singles final of the 203,024 euros Palermo Ladies Open WTA 250 tournament in Palermo, Italy, after defeating Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo, fourth seed, 3-6 6-3 6-4, in a match that ended after midnight on Saturday.
Sixth-seeded Begu 31, world number 45, won after three hours and 12 minutes of play in high temperature and humidity.
Tormo started the game better and led 3-0, keeping the difference until the end of the first set she won 6-3. Begu prevailed in the second set, 6-3, after breaking away at 4-1. In the decider, the Iberian led 2-1, after which Begu won four matches in a row (5-2).
Begu defeated Sorribes Tormo also in their only direct match, in the 2020 Prague Open quarter-finals, 6-2 4-6 6-2, Agerpres.ro informs.
In the final, Begu will face Italian Lucia Bronzetti, 23, world number 78.
She will play her ninth WTA singles final, having won four times in Tashkent (2012), Seoul (2015), Florianopolis (2016) and Bucharest (2017). Irina also played finals in Budapest, Marbella (both in 2011), Moscow (2014) and Cleveland (2021).
For her performance so far, Begu won 15,922 euros and 1,180 WTA singles points.
In 2020, Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse lost the final to American Danielle Collins, 6-4 6-2. Irina Sparlea is the only Romanian player who won the singles event in Palermo in 1994 and 1995.
