The "Moin" came a little softly from Anett Kontaveit's lips at the first attempt. After reaching the final of the tennis tournament in Hamburg, the Estonian also addressed the audience in German at the request of the interviewer on the center court. In view of her trainer Torben Beltz, who used to coach Angelique Kerber, the tournament favorite also knew: "Two Moin is too long for Hamburgers."
The second in the world rankings prevailed on Friday 6: 3, 7: 5 against Anastasia Potapova from Russia. "The match was very good, I had to be there the whole time and fight for every point," said Kontaveit, who only decided to start in Hamburg at short notice. "I'm really looking forward to the match on Saturday. Finals are always something special.”
In the final she now meets the American Bernarda Pera, who defeated the number seven seeded Maryna Zanevska from Belgium 6:2, 6:4. Both finalists of the European Open have still not lost a set in the clay court event during the course of the tournament.
The 27-year-old Pera once again confirmed her strong form, she had already celebrated her first tournament victory on the WTA tour last week as a qualifier in Budapest. Kontaveit, who is one year younger, is top seeded in Hamburg and won against Andrea Petkovic in the quarter-finals. The 34-year-old from Darmstadt had given up injured and was the last German player to drop out at Rothenbaum.
In the men's tournament, unseeded Francisco Cerundolo and Lorenzo Musetti reached the semi-finals. Argentina's Cerundolo beat Aslan Karazew from Russia 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4). Musetti surprisingly won 6:4, 6:3 against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
