ISMANING, November 9, 2024

On Saturday, the semifinals of the inaugural THERME ERDING OPEN by Tannenhof, being held at the TC Ismaning, took place. Despite an impressive performance, Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam narrowly missed reaching the title match of this ITF World Tennis Tour W75 tournament, which offers a total prize pool of $60,000.

The match between World No. 499 and No. 2 seed Daria Snigur from Ukraine delivered a high-level contest. Both players struggled to find their rhythm initially, each dropping their first service games. Friedsam, however, seized the momentum, breaking Snigur decisively in the last game of the first set to secure it without dropping a point.

Friedsam maintained a dynamic, variable style in the second set, mixing up the pace of her shots to challenge Snigur, who responded with her characteristic, direct baseline strokes. Leading 3-1, Friedsam appeared to be on track for victory, but Snigur rediscovered her timing and forced a tie-break, which she won to level the match. With renewed energy, Snigur dominated the final set, ultimately winning 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 after an intense one hour and 36 minutes.

“I’m still processing how I managed to turn the match around after being a set and a break down,” said Snigur. “Anna-Lena was playing so well, and as the fourth German player I’ve faced here, she had strong crowd support. I’m proud to have made it to the final.”

The 22-year-old will take on Susan Bandecchi from Switzerland, who beat Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia 6-3, 6-4. 

“I’m very pleased today because my game plan worked out perfectly, and I played really well,” said Bancecchi. “Last week, I was competing on a very slow hard court in England, but I had three days here to train, and I really enjoy playing on fast surfaces. In my first two matches here, I was still very tired, but with the confidence from winning last week’s tournament, I managed to come through those matches narrowly in my favor.”