Diane Parry saves seven set points to reach maiden Tour-level final in Monterrey, Mertens next
Diane Parry saved seven set points to reach the first Tour-level final of her career in Monterrey, becoming the closest Frenchwoman to a title there since Marion Bartoli in 2009, and will face No. 2 seed Elise Mertens, who rallied past Nikola Bartunkova after dropping the first set.
Diane Parry, Monterrey 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Frenchwoman Diane Parry saved seven set points to beat American Ann Li, the No. 5 seed, 7-6 (7), 6-4, reaching the first Tour-level final of her career at the Abierto GNP Seguros of Monyerrey on Friday night.
Parry, ranked No. 50, trailed 5-2 in the opening set and was down 6-2 in the tiebreak before rallying to take it. It was her seventh career Tour-level semi-final and first final, having lost all six of her previous appearances at that stage, including a semi-final run earlier this season at Ostrava.
Parry reached the final by also beating Dane Clara Tauson 6-3, 7-5, Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova 6-4, 7-6 (3) and No. 6 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1. Li, ranked No. 30, had beaten wildcard Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-3, Uzbek qualifier Maria Timofeeva by walkover and Colombian Camila Osorio 6-1, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals, where she had been chasing the chance to become the first American to reach a Monterrey final.
Like Bartoli in 2009?
Parry is the only French player in this year’s main draw, and the closest her country has come to a Monterrey title was Marion Bartoli’s run to the trophy in 2009, a mark Parry can match on Saturday.
Belgian Elise Mertens, the No. 2 seed, joined her in the final by beating Czech Nikola Bartunkova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Mertens, ranked No. 24, dropped the first set before turning the match around, breaking for control in the third as Bartunkova, who had led for most of the match, faded down the stretch.
It is Mertens’s 17th career Tour-level final and her first since she won the title at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2025. Mertens reached this final by also beating Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-1, 6-4 and Hungarian lucky loser Panna Udvardy 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
