Noma Noha Akugue, 19, reaches Hamburg final in WTA main-draw debut

WATCH: In a match between first-time semifinalists, Noma Noha Akugue beat Diana Shnaider to reach the final at the Hamburg European Open.

The teens are dreaming. A week after the ATP's Alex Michelsen reached a final on home soil (at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I.) in his second career ATP main-draw, Noma Noha Akugue has followed suit in her WTA debut.

The 19-year-old, born in Hamburg to Nigerian immigrants, beat fellow 19-year-old Diana Shnaider, the NC State product, 6-3, 6-3 in Friday's semifinals to keep her breakout run at the Hamburg European Open going.

While her run this week at the WTA 250 event has been somewhat understated—all four players she's beaten were unseeded—it's nonetheless been impressive. She saved a match point in her second-round win over Aussie Storm Hunter, where she was bageled in the first set but came back to win 0-6, 7-6(2), 6-4; and also came from a set down to beat former Roland Garros semifinalist Martina Trevisan 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

The win over Trevisan, a former Top 20 player now ranked No. 76, was the teen's best career win by ranking so far. At No. 207, she's the second player outside the Top 200 to make a breakthrough in as many weeks; last week, 19-year-old Maria Timofeeva, then No. 246, won the title in Budapest as a lucky loser.

"I cannot believe [it]. I'm so happy and speechless. Thank you to everyone who came to support me today," a breathless Noha Akugue said after her win over Shnaider. "I want to thank [tournament director] Sandra [Reichel] for giving me the wild card and the opportunity."

Against her fellow first-time semifinalist Shnaider, Noha Akugue was cool under pressure, despite admitting to some nerves. She saved all six break points she faced: five when she served at 2-1 in the opener, and another when she served for the match.

"I tried to stick with my game, and I tried to focus on my serve, and it worked," Noha Akugue, who hit 15 winners in the 18 games, said.

In 2020, a then-17-year-old Noha Akugue became the youngest-ever winner of the German national championships, as per the WTA, and has been rapidly rising the the last 12 months. Ranked No. 720 at the start of 2022, the 5-foot-7 left-hander reached seven finals on the ITF World Tennis Tour, the rung of competition below the WTA Tour, last season, but lost six of those finals.

She'll hope for a change in fortunes, and a fairytale ending, on Saturday against world No. 60 Arantxa Rus, a veteran who's also through to her first final and playing some of the best tennis of her career. No. 7 seed Rus, 32, entered the week at a career-high ranking, and is the oldest first-time WTA singles finalist in 16 years.

The teenager is seeking to be the first German champion in Hamburg since Steffi Graf in 1992.