Vandeweghe Reaches First Career Final with Win over Wickmayer

By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty

vandeweghe bank of the west matthew stockman

(July 14, 2012) -- 20-year-old Coco Vandeweghe reached her first career WTA final with an impressive 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Yanina Wickmayer at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California today.

Vandeweghe, a lucky loser at Stanford, wouldn’t even have been in the draw if Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia hadn’t withdrawn from the event due to an injury.

Now that she’s in, she’s making the most of the opportunity.

The world No.120 served 12 aces and saved 6 of the 7 break points she faced against Wickmayer on the day.

Four of those break points saved came in the crucial fifth game of the decisive set, when Vandeweghe consolidated her break in the previous game to lead 4-1 against the Belgian.

Two games later, Wickmayer would double fault on match point to hand the American the win.

"It's a dream come true for me being in the finals of a WTA event," Vandeweghe said. "Hopefully this is a good omen for the rest of the summer for me."

Vandeweghe, who had never reached a WTA semifinal before this weekend, will play either Serena Williams or Sorana Cirstea in the final

Errani Reaches Palermo Finals

French Open finalist Sara Errani reached the finals of the Italiacom Open today in Palermo with a command performance against Irina-Camelia Begu. The 6-4, 6-1 victory puts the world No. 9 one step away for her fourth title of 2012, and the sixth of her career.

Errani, who has never finished a season inside the WTA’s top 40, has dropped only sixteen games in four matches this week.

Her opponent in tomorrow’s final will be Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic. Zahlavova Strycova came back from a set down to defeat Laura Robson 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Robson had the lead late in the second set but missed a chance to reach her first career WTA final. After dropping the second set, the 18-year-old was unable to manage another break point opportunity for the rest of the match, winning only 5 of 22 points against Zahlavova Strycova’s serve in the final set.