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Babos topples Safarova to reach Quebec final

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MONTREAL: Third-seeded Hungarian Timea Babos edged top-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 on Saturday to reach the WTA Quebec City final, where she’ll take on Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck.


Babos reached her second WTA final of the year, having captured her hometown title in Budapest with a win over Safarova in the final.


On Saturday, Babos, ranked 63rd in the world, leveled her head-to-head record against Safarova at two wins apiece, holding firm in the face of Safarova’s strong start and securing the match after an hour and 42 minutes. Babos was under pressure early as Safarova didn’t drop a point in her first four service games.


The Hungarian wasn’t as flawless, but never faced a break point herself and finally earned the first break chance of the match — a set-point at 6-5. Safarova saved it and they went to the tie-breaker, in which Babos again mustered the first set-point chance. Babos will be seeking a third career title on Sunday against seventh-seeded Van Uytvanck, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Germany’s Tatjana Maria.


Van Uytvanck reached the first WTA final of her career with a dominant performance. — AFP


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