World No. 68 Cristina Bucsa delivered an outstanding performance to beat fifth-seeded rising star Maya Joint 6-3 6-1 and make her maiden WTA final at the 250-category tournament in Hong Kong.
Going into the Hong Kong semifinal, Joint - who became a WTA champion in Eastbourne during the summer and recently made the Seoul semis - was regarded as the favorite to beat the 68th-ranked Spaniard. Through the opening five games of the match, the 19-year-old Australian led 3-2 but without a break.
That was before Bucsa went on a major seven-game run to open a 6-3 3-0 lead. While Joint managed to briefly snap the Spaniard's run by holding to her serve in the fourth game of the second set, the Spanish tennis player remained unfazed and took the next three games to wrap up things in just 58 minutes of play.
Bucsa completely outplayed Joint, firing 20 winners while her rivals finished the match with just six winners and 25 unforced errors. Also, the Spaniard converted four of her 12 break point chances and impressively limited her rival to a total of zero break point chances.
Who will be Bucsa's rival in the Hong Kong final?
In the remaining semifinal, the Hong Kong fans will see an all-Canadian battle between 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and reigning Montreal champion Victoria Mboko.
Meanwhile, by reaching the Hong Kong title match, Bucsa made her maiden WTA final at the age of 27. So far this week, the Spanish tennis player defeated Yexin Ma and Emiliana Arango while Belinda Bencic gave her a walkover in the quarterfinal.
