Mertens and Li in the final of the WTA 250 tournament in Singapore
The line-up for the Singapore final is set. The tournament's number 2 seed, Elise Mertens held her nerve to reach the final.
After eliminating Taylor Townsend (6-1, 6-0), Tatjana Maria (6-7, 6-3, 6-1) and Camila Osorio (6-4, 6-2), the Belgian, ranked 32nd in the world, dominated number 4 seed Wang Xinyu (6-3, 6-4).
This will be Mertens' second final of the season, after the one she lost to McCartney Kessler in Hobart prior to the Australian Open.
Eliminated in the second round in Melbourne by Jessica Pegula, she will be attempting to win the 9th title of her career, at the age of 29.
To do so, she will face American Ann Li. The only unseeded player in the semi-finals of this tournament, the 24-year-old took advantage of the withdrawal of the main seed, Anna Kalinskaya, early in the second set (7-6, 1-0 ab).
Prior to that, she had overcome Daria Saville (6-3, 6-1), Maria Timofeeva (6-3, 6-2) and Kimberly Birrell (7-6, 7-6) to reach the last four.
This will be the first ever meeting between the two players. Mertens has more experience and will enter this match as the favorite, but Li will be looking to win the second title of her career, four years after her last in Tenerife.