FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil – No.2 seed Irina-Camelia Begu battled past a spirited challenge from Monica Puig to earn her spot in the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup, where she’s set to face the No.6 seed Timea Babos for the title.

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“It was a tough one because she is playing really aggressive and hit the ball very hard,” Begu said of her Puerto Rican opponent. “I served well in the important games. It was difficult but I think I managed it well.”

Begu is the second Romanian player to reach the final of the Brasil Tennis Cup after Monica Niculescu won the title at the tournament’s inaugural staging in 2013. Standing in Begu’s way as she tries to emulate her countrywoman is Babos, who spoiled what would have been an all-Romanian final when she edged past Ana Bodgan in a tight straights sets rollercoaster, 7-6(10), 6-3.

The Hungarian looked to be firmly in the driver’s seat from the start after she built up a 5-2 lead, but a mental lapse gave Bodgan a way back. Bogdan rattled off four games straight and even held three sets points at 6-5, 40-0.

Babos reigned in her mounting frustration to send the set to a tiebreak, and Bodgan raced ahead to a 5-0 lead, only to see it dashed away again as the No.6 seed clawed back to take the opening set.

“It was definitely a silly, silly match,” she said afterwards. “I mean, I was really controlling the match in the beginning of the first set and then I lost control – especially of my emotions.”

“It was ridiculous, very unbelievable that first set.”

The second set would prove to be just as difficult as the first, featuring eight breaks of serve total. Babos, who had been very defensive in her service games thus far, finally changed her strategy at the end and raised her level of aggressiveness to take the decisive seventh break at 4-3, then once again to close out the two hour long battle and make her way to the Florianopolis final.

Her day wasn’t over yet, though, as later Babos was back on court after suitable rest to join her partner Reka-Luka Jani for the doubles final against Ukrainian sisters Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok.

It was one way traffic for the Kichenoks as they routed the all-Hungarian duo 6-3, 6-1.

Both teams were fine tuning their Olympic preparations and are scheduled to be back on the courts after the Olympic tennis event kicks off this weekend in nearby Rio de Janeiro.

“For sure this tournament was great preparation for the Olympics,” Lyudmyla said. “We are really looking forward to it now after winning here in Florianopolis.”