In the eighth tournament of the season, the big step came. Carolina Marín has qualified this Saturday for the final of the French Opena Super 750 category tournament. It will be her second final of the season (she won the European Championship in the second leg after her serious injury), but without a doubt the most notorious due to the level of her rivals and the level of play.
The player from Huelva has defeated the Japanese in the semifinals Akane Yamaguchi, numero 1 of the world ranking and current world champion, for a clear 21-14 y 21-18. Dominating at all times, as she likes, varying directions and rhythm of the game and punishing the physique of a physically exhausted Japanese player in many moments, Marín has won with authority a game that not only means his return to a final, but his best victory since his reappearance on the circuit.
It had been difficult for Carolina to find the good feelings in the previous tournaments, beyond her title in a European of which she is absolute queen in recent years. Yamaguchi was the same rival that had closed the doors to medals at the World Cup in Tokyo at the end of August, also clearly (double 21-17). Since then the Asian empire had resisted Carolina in her attempt to reach the final rounds of the big tournaments, but nothing better for the woman from Huelva than getting even with the player who now sets the tone on the circuit.
A guideline that she defined for many months, ready to recover her best version. The one offered this Saturday has been without a doubt the most brilliant that Marín has worn this year, a true example that the badminton that allowed him to dominate the circuit for a long time is getting closer. He already tried to show a high level in Denmark, where he was not as effective in the definition as in a match against Yamaguchi in which has asserted his physique to take the victory.
A storm outing has shot Carolina in the match against a very hesitant Yamaguchi. A 7-0 run left Marín in absolute dominance at the start of the match, aggressive, looking for winning shots and varying directions. Yamaguchi, on the contrary, had not just started, especially at a physical level in which she has been seen far from her best performance.
However, the Japanese rowed little by little to force a tie at 12 that made it clear to Marín that he could not get lost. Carolina began to strike again, causing several errors in her rival’s racket, looking for depth with his punches and punishing Yamaguchi on the move, which allowed him good drop options. Without the Japanese, exhausted at times, being able to enter the match again, Marín closed with a convincing 21-14 the first round.
Yamaguchi wanted to react in the second set, in which he kept his pulse and even took small leads in the early stages. The Japanese was determined to be more aggressive, but Carolina soon regained center court. Dominating in it, he left 11-9 at the interval and gave behind him the definitive pull to the set.
Varying directions and especially depths, continually moving Yamaguchi between the baseline and the net, Carolina became the owner of a game in which she shot up to 17-11. that was when the errors also began to make a dent in the Japanese racket for a clear 20-15 to dominate the scoreboard. With five match points against, the final attack of the Japanese arrived, but Marín responded in his fourth ‘match ball’ to celebrate with a shout of joy his advance to the final.
He will seek this Sunday the thirty-fifth title of his career against the winner of a second semifinal that will measure the Chinese in the afternoon He Bing Jiao already number 2 in the world, the Taiwanese Tai Tzu Ying. The final will thus be another tough touchstone for the player from Huelva. Of course, Marín will face it with full guarantees after showing that his game and his feelings have grown by leaps and bounds.
