The court in Philadelphia is ready for a final, and the two women walking out for it arrived by very different roads. Katie Volynets survived the loudest match of the week. Tereza Valentova, at 19, breezed through a short semifinal and carries the fresher legs.
Six set points, and a teenager who closes fast
Volynets spent her semifinal on the edge — six set points saved, no deciding set required, the noise rising with every extra ball she dragged back into play. That is the shape of her tennis: deep returns, patience, one more shot than the opponent expects to hit.
Valentova has been the cleaner operator, controlling her matches and finishing them, and she owns the only meeting between the pair, 6-2, 6-4 on hard. Yet the seven match points that slipped away against Elina Svitolina, and the set she could not serve out in Prague, still sit somewhere in the background.
Where the final turns heavy
Expect long rallies and a stubborn wall on the far side of the net. Volynets cannot afford to sink into pure defence, but if she keeps stretching points and denying the teenager a comfortable first strike, the closing games become a test of nerve rather than of ball speed.
A home crowd lifting every hold only sharpens that pressure, and the value sits with the American.
Prediction: Katie Volynets to win, odds 2.377
