Day 7 Preview: ASB Classic Women's FInals

Today’s ASB Classic Watch

By Matt Brown, Newstalk ZB

DAY 7 PREVIEW: Coco Gauff has lived up to her status as one of the best tennis players on the planet at the ASB Classic this week and it’s no surprise to see her contest today’s singles final. The world number seven and tournament top seed hasn’t dropped a set all week and the 18 year old will start as warm favourite to claim a third WTA singles title against surprise finalist Rebeka Masarova. The Spaniard has come through qualifying to the reach her first WTA Tour final, having reached the semi-finals more than six years after her first WTA semi-final in 2016 as a 16 year old in Gstaad in Switzerland. 

23-year-old Masarova won the French Open junior girls singles title in 2016 but her career has floundered since, until this week and the run to the final of the ASB Classic may just provide the launching pad for her to surge up the rankings into the top 100 in 2023. She will crack the top 100 if she wins the tournament. 

In Gauff she faces a formidable opponent. The American is through to her first final since making her first Grand Slam singles final appearance at Roland Garros last June. She has one of the best backhands in women’s tennis and Masarova’s powerful serve will have to be pinpoint accurate if she’s to stand a chance of causing an upset. The women’s doubles final features Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and Bethanie Mattek-Sands against Japan’s Miyu Kato and Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi.