Marta Kostyuk weathers Danielle Collins in Austin to reach first WTA final

Marta Kostyuk reached her first career WTA final by taking five of the last six games and beating Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-3 at the ATX Open on Saturday.

Kostyuk, the No. 8 seed, saved five of the six break points she faced and won four of 2022 Australian Open runner-up Collins' service games.

The 20-year-old from Ukraine who had previously reached the semifinals at four tournaments but never made it past that round.

"Obviously a special moment, very emotional," Kostyuk told press afterward. "I lost four semifinals prior to this match today, and I didn’t know what to expect. Danielle is a great player, a great champion. Very happy that the match turned out this way today."

She will face one of two unseeded players for the championship of the inaugural edition of the hard-court tournament in Austin: Katie Volynets of the United States or Varvara Gracheva of Russia. They were scheduled to meet in the second semifinal on Saturday night.

The fourth-seeded Collins was trying to reach her first tour title match since getting that far at Melbourne Park last season before losing to Ash Barty. Collins fell to 0-5 against seeded opponents and her career mark in WTA semifinals is now 3-9.