First WTA final for the young Czech

After a top 20, a (nearly) top 10?

We’re looking at a nightmare scenario for Alexandrova. She’s facing a player on the rise, totally uninhibited, who has jumped from 101st place at the start of the tournament to a virtual Top 40 spot if she wins. Bejlek’s style, with her lefty touch and ability to vary spin, could be the Russian’s worst nightmare. Drova needs rhythm and pace to express herself; Bejlek will throw high, looping trajectories and slices at her that will make her implode with unforced errors. Sára’s semifinal against Tauson served as a warning: down 5–3 in the final set, the Czech showed extraordinary resilience, saving 11 break points thanks to exceptional court coverage. She has this ability to turn every rally into a psychological marathon, which could be fatal for an already fragile Alexandrova.

The mental aspect is the ultimate judge. Alexandrova is dragging around her inability to close like a ball and chain, with a 0–3 record in her last finals and no title on outdoor hard courts since 2022. She’s coming off a match where she ended in tears, drained by 59 unforced errors and a 2h30 battle in which she came within a match point of going out. On the other side, Bejlek is on cloud nine, carried by the carefree attitude of her 20 years and the confidence of having taken out players like Ostapenko and Clara this week. If the Czech manages to make Alexandrova doubt herself in the first set, extending rallies the way she did to wear down Tauson, the Russian could collapse mentally.

While Sára Bejlek has optimized her six wins to an average of 1h42 per match, Ekaterina Alexandrova arrives exhausted, averaging more than 2h06 of battle per encounter, highlighting much more pronounced nervous wear and tear for the Russian.