Bronzetti reaches first final on tour at Palermo Ladies Open

Lucia Bronzetti of Italy returns the ball to Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic during a women's tennis match at Abierto of Zapopan tennis tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. (Refugio Ruiz/AP)

PALERMO, Sicily (AP) — Lucia Bronzetti reached her first final on tour by rallying past fellow Italian Jasmine Paolini 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Palermo Ladies Open on Saturday.

Paolini double-faulted to hand Bronzetti a 5-3 lead in the third set and a chance to serve it out — which Bronzetti did at love.

The 78th-ranked Bronzetti wasn’t expecting to get this far.

“If you had told me at the start of the week, I wouldn’t have believed it,” she said.

In Sunday’s final on the red clay of the Country Time Club, Bronzetti will face fourth-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo or sixth-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu.

Sportsnet.ca no longer supports comments.