Search-and-destroy meets survive-and-advance
Heather Watson (GBR) v (Q) Madison Brengle (USA)
Not before 2pm; head-to-head – Watson leads 1-0
Watch the singles final LIVE from 2pm (available to Australia viewers only)
Heather Watson has won eight sets to reach the Hobart International final; Madison Brengle has won seven matches.
The American has followed in the footsteps of 2012 winner Mona Barthel and reigning champion Garbine Muguruza by coming through qualifying to reach the final with a string of tenacious, error-free performances in which she has seized her opportunities to stay alive with aplomb.
The world No.84 is a bona-fide counterpuncher, a feisty and fleet-footed defender whose commitment to keeping the ball in court at times borders on the pathological, and ran Kurumi Nara to a standstill in the semi-finals.
The safe option is not always the best option, however – especially against an opponent with the mobility, arsenal and confidence of Heather Watson, whose season is off to a flying start.
Picking up where she left off at the end of her Hopman Cup campaign, the Briton has notched up impressive straight-sets wins over three seeds in Hobart, most notably a masterful display against Sloane Stephens in the second round.
The world No.49 struggled in the early stages of her wind and rain-hit semi with Alison Riske but held her concentration through six rain delays, only flinching after the last as she returned to double-fault on match point before racing away with the next two games for victory.
Brengle and Watson spent Christmas together at the IMG Bollettieri Academy in Florida, and train together, so neither arrives with the element of surprise. Watson, the winner in the pair’s 2010 meeting in Quebec, arrives as the favourite to claim her second tour title, but that’s nothing new for Brengle. The 24-year-old, through to her first WTA final, has been the underdog all week in Hobart, and look where it’s got her.
New partner, same result for Monica?
V Diatchenko (RUS) & M Niculescu (ROU) v K Bertens (NED) & J Larsson (SWE)
Midday, Centre Court
Monica Niculescu is back to defend the doubles crown she claimed alongside Klara Koukalova in 2014, but the Czech’s decision to cut down her doubles commitments this season left the Romanian looking for another partner.
In came Russia’s Diatchenko, featuring in the sixth doubles final of her career. The duo will take on Johanna Larsson, who reached the second round of the singles draw after coming through qualifying, and Kiki Bertens, playing in the first WTA final of her career.