If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
That appears to be the motto adopted by Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich who became the first qualifier to reach the Brisbane International women’s final on Friday in a case of third time lucky.
Despite a frustrating history in Brisbane, Sasnovich defied a leg niggle to move into the final with a shock 7-6(3), 6-4 win over No.7 seed Anastasija Sevastova, of Latvia, at Pat Rafter Arena.
She will play the winner of Friday night’s semifinal between second seed and defending champion Karolina Pliskova, of the Czech Republic, and world No.6 Elina Svitolina.
Sasnovich intends to create further history in her second WTA final – and her first since 2015 –by becoming the first qualifier to win the Brisbane women’s title.
She already has an 11-0 record in ITF finals and is set to jump into the world’s top 50 if she prevails in Saturday’s decider.
“I really like to start the season like this,” Sasnovich said after her seventh straight win at this year’s event. “But (making the) final, it’s not enough for me. The title is forever.
“Maybe some people forget (the losing finalist), but the winner, no one.”
The 88th-ranked Belarusian – ranked 72 spots lower than her opponent – called for a medical timeout after the first set to have new strapping applied to quell a leg complaint that has troubled her throughout the tournament.
But it seemed nothing was going to stop Sasnovich as she made up for lost time in Brisbane.
The 23-year-old had fallen in Brisbane qualifying the past two years and looked like bowing out again this year when she trailed 6-3, 4-2 in the final round.
However, Sasnovich finally clinched a main draw berth and has not looked back, extending her giant-killing run to seven matches.
World No.16 Sevastova looked set to make short work of Sasnovich after losing the least amount of games (13) of all the semifinalists and was yet to drop a set this week.
The dual US Open quarterfinalist – who knocked out Samantha Stosur in the first round – also led the tour this week in break points saved and had set the bar in Brisbane with most return points won and break points converted.