Aliaksandra Sasnovich returns to a WTA semifinal, while Anastasia Potapova confirms her status as the top seed at the Transylvania Open
Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who entered the main draw at the Transylvania Open as a lucky loser, continues her excellent run in Cluj with another notable victory. Sasnovich, ranked No. 128 WTA this week, battled through a tough, lengthy three-set match against fourth seed Anhelina Kalinina. The final score was 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 in favor of Sasnovich, who made a comeback in the deciding set from 3-5 down, as Kalinina had two chances to serve for the match.
On her 28th birthday, Kalinina played an excellent match, dictating play for much of the contest and staying ahead—until Sasnovich stopped her momentum at the most crucial moments. The match was extremely balanced and of high quality, featuring numerous long rallies finished with clean winner shots. This was likely one of the best matches played at the Transylvania Open this week. Both players struck powerful shots, used the entire court to impose their game, and had periods where they were playing at their highest level simultaneously.
Sasnovich made the difference in the big points, which ultimately decided the winner. At 5-4, when Kalinina served for the match, Sasnovich was slightly more inspired on return, directing her shots better and using the court’s sidelines to gain control. At 6-5, when Kalinina served for the match a second time, Sasnovich applied pressure on the return again, strategically pushing her opponent wide to expose her movement.
With this victory, Sasnovich returns to a WTA semifinal for the first time since July 2024, when she reached the final in Budapest.
Her next opponent will be top seed Anastasia Potapova, who ended young Ella Seidel’s winning streak with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. In the end, Potapova proved to be much stronger and the gap in experience and ranking was evident throughout the match.
Potapova delivered one of her best performances of the week, winning 79% of points on her first serve and 64% on her second. From the baseline, she was nearly untouchable. The Russian player is now into her second semifinal at the Transylvania Open, having previously reached this stage in 2022 before being stopped by eventual champion Anna Blinkova.
Katerina Siniakova, the tournament’s fifth seed, is also through to the semifinals after a hard-fought win over Viktoriya Tomova. This marks Siniakova’s first WTA semifinal since October, following a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Tomova. For a while, it seemed like Siniakova had full control, but the match took a dramatic turn when Tomova surged to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Siniakova then won four games in a row before Tomova, at 6-5, saved three match points to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Tomova led 3-0, only for Siniakova to mount a strong comeback and seal the match on her fifth match point.
Siniakova will now face Lucia Bronzetti in Friday’s semifinals. Bronzetti secured her spot by winning an all-Italian quarterfinal against Elisabetta Cocciaretto in straight sets, reaching the seventh semifinal of her career.
