LAS VEGAS, Nev. --- Yu Yun "Kathy" Tsai dropped her opening set in her semifinal match with Hudson Hawkins, and then bounced back, taking a huge break in a 4-4, third-set tie as she won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the championship match of the Mountain West qualifiers.
She will face another UNLV Rebel, Nikol Mircheva, in the championship match, with a berth in the ITA Masters on the line.
Early on, it didn't look like Tsai would reach the championship match, as she lost the opening set 6-3. Tsai and Hawkins held serve through the first seven games, with Hawkins up 4-3 before Tsai broke serve, giving her the advantage she needed to take the opening set.
Tsai regrouped and took the first three games of the second set. Tsai then broke to go up 5-1 and finished the second set with a 6-3 win. That set up the decisive third set.
Tsai got an early break, but Hawkins broke back in the eighth game to make it 4-4. Tsai then capitalized on a double fault to break back and take a 5-4 lead. She served it out from 40-30 to win.
Overall, Tsai took advantage of Hawkins' second serve, winning 74% of points (17 of 23) on it, and that was the match's telling stat.
Tsai will face Mircheva, who beat GCU's Isabella Crossman 6-4, 7-5 to get to the final from the bottom of the bracket. Mircheva is the tournament's No. 3 seed.