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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday March 6, 2021


There was finally some adversity to face for 18-year-old Clara Tauson, the teen who had virtually breezed from qualifying to the semis in Lyon. But it wasn’t enough to throw the young talent off track. She dealt with a trio of questionable calls from the chair late in the first set and took matters into her own hands against Paula Badosa as she won eight of the final nine games to claim a 7-5, 6-1 victory over the Spaniard.

Tennis Express

“I think the calls, the forehand down the line was ridiculous, that’s all I have to say about that,” Tauson said of the most egregious call, which happened in the tenth game of the first set.

She then questioned two other calls which were close, two games later, as her frustration mounted.

“I don’t know it’s a really, really difficult moment to overrule some balls at 5-6, deuce, and I just think it was some weird calls," she said. "That’s how it is sometimes. I’m more frustrated about the forehand down the line [at 4-5] because I know in my heart that ball was in.”

Tauson was referring to the first of the close calls that happened with Badosa serving at 4-5, 15-15. The ball was clearly in for a clean winner for the Dane, and that mistake played a role in her frustration two games later.




But Tauson was not to be denied and eventually she took over the match with her power game and ran away from Badosa, who appeared to be struggling with an ailment in the second set.

The Dane rolled in the second set, winning 16 of 19 points on serve and breaking twice on three opportunities to book her first WTA final. She has dropped just 30 games across six matches in Lyon (two in qualifying), and just 22 games in her four main draw matches.

She’ll meet Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in a rematch of the Fujairah challenger final, which was won by Tauson in January 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. It will also be a battle of two qualifiers, a rare sight on the WTA Tour.

Golubic knocked off Fiona Ferro on Saturday, 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(4).

She’ll hope for a faster start against Tauson when they meet on Sunday; she didn't win a game in the first set of their final in January.

“I had a nightmare start there,” said Golubic of their last encounter. “I barely put a ball into the court and the rest of those, which I put in, she hit winners. Obviously I will try to make that different,” she said. “She’s definitely on fire from the beginning so you have to come up with something and be aggressive too, and this is what I’m going to try.”

Tauson, making just her third tour-level appearance, owns a 9-3 record across all professional finals, and she has won her last six ITF finals. Golubic is into her first WTA level final since 2016, she is 1-1 lifetime in WTA title matches.

 

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