Alexandra Eala’s magical run in Berlin has sadly come to an end, thwarted by Linda Noskova earlier today.
In all honesty, it was a flawless performance from the Czech, who overpowered the 21-year-old from the off with her flat, brutal ball-striking.
She will now face Jessica Pegula for the title tomorrow.
Meanwhile, for Alexandra Eala, it is back to the drawing board.
She can take so much pride from this week, having beaten three top-level opponents on her way to the semi-finals.
Alas, today is Noskova’s day, and she spoke on-court after the match.
Linda Noskova reacts after beating Alex Eala in the Berlin Open semi-finals
She began by discussing the conditions, having played after a rain delayed match between Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka.
Noskova admitted: “I just had to adjust my game today, maybe a little bit, because of the rain and maybe the temperature dropped a little bit. The court was maybe a little bit slower, but as the match went on and we hit new balls, I kind of started to feel better and better.
Then, touching on Eala, she added: ”I knew I had to take time away from her because she is so quick and can turn defense into offense very fast. My goal was to dominate from the first serve and the very first shot after that. I tried to change directions constantly so she couldn’t get into a comfortable rhythm.”.
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Noskova is fast turning into a top-level grass-court player, and will certainly be a threat at Wimbledon in the coming weeks.
Asked how she is so adept on this surface already, she admitted: “Grass is always tricky and every single day is a very different story. You can play in the morning, or you can play at night, and the conditions change completely.
“Earlier in the week, it was about surviving the heat, and today it was the cold. You just have to control the small things you can, like adjusting your string tension and staying mentally flexible.”
Tracy Austin had claimed that Eala had a big advantage on grass before the match, but was clearly unable to make it pay today.
Tracy Austin previews the Berlin Open final between Jessica Pegula and Linda Noskova
Speaking on Tennis Channel’s live coverage, Austin offered her immediate reaction to Noskova’s huge victory.
She admitted: “That’s actually so nice to see that she’s so emotional about this victory because she doesn’t give us much emotion during the match. This is the best grass court result of her career, so this is a big deal. Another final, her seventh, and she can be so dangerous.”
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Then, asked to preview her upcoming final against Pegula, she added: “It’s gonna be a lot of flat ground strokes when she plays against Pegula.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be huge ball striking, and just Pegula looked fantastic today against Sabalenka, especially in that third set.
“She’s won a couple of grass court titles, [has a] game perfectly suited for the surface. She can hit the ball so early, great timing. I would give Pegula definitely the edge, but Noskova’s very dangerous.”
