2021 Upper Austria Ladies Linz - a WTA 250 tournament, on Hard Indoor, in Linz, Austria, 6-12 November 2021.
Event held last year from 9-15 November 2020.
2020 champion (not defending):
Aryna Sabalenka (1) who defeated Elise Mertens (2) 7-5 6-2
Final:
Alison Riske (8) (USA) v lucky loser Jaqueline Cristian (Romania)
This was the first meeting between the two players, and the first WTA final for Cristian. Riske was in her 11th final (second for 2021), aiming to win her third title, the last coming in June 2019 - the Rosmalen Championships in the Netherlands.
Breaks of serve were exchanged in the opening two games of the match, and Riske saved a break point in the fourth game before levelling at 2-2.
Cristian broke to love in the sixth game, two forehand winners highlighted. The Romanian consolidated for a 5-2 lead, needing to save a break point in the process.
Serving to stay in the set, Riske was down 0-30. An ace helped, but when Cristian delivered a backhand passing shot, she had two set points.
Only one was needed. Riske sent a forehand over the baseline and Cristian led 6-2.
After being taken to deuce in the second game of set two, Riske converted the second of two break points in the next game to lead 2-1.
A backhand winner from the American sealed a love game to consolidate the break and confirm a change in the momentum.
Despite a double fault, Cristian returned to her convincing form and held, remaining in touch at 2-3.
Down 0-30, Riske was assisted by two excellent first serves, and eventually won the game for a 4-2 lead, then capitalised on some careless Cristian shots to break for a second time in the set, finished off with a backhand winner. 5-2.
The American served out the set 6-2, the last two points winners from forehand then backhand.
Cristian saved one break point in the fifth game of the decider, but not the second, and Riske broke to lead 3-2.
Cristian responded immediately by breaking back and it was even once more.
From 30-15, Cristian lost three straight points, and for the third game in succession, serve was cracked.
Riske then saw six game points disappear, and another chance to consolidate a break went missing when Cristian converted the first break point on offer. 4-4.
From 0-40, Cristian fought back to deuce. She saved a fourth break point before holding serve to lead 5-4. Riske had wasted so many chances in the space of just two games and now needed to hold serve to stay in the match.
Riske came back from 15-30 to level at 5-5.
Cristian double faulted at 15-30, giving Riske two break chances. A Cristian backhand sailed long, and Riske was ahead 6-5.
After a series of errors, it was 30-30 with Riske serving for the title. She had match point after putting away a forehand at the net.
After forcing Cristian into putting a forehand out of court, Alison Riske was the winner of the match 2-6 6-2 7-5.
The Upper Austria Ladies Linz was the third trophy for Alison Riske on the WTA Tour, and comes as a relief after a number of losses in finals.
