BUDAPEST, Hungary – No.1 seed Timea Babos has seen her best tennis flourish in front of her home crowd in Budapest at the Hungarian Ladies Open, and during her semifinal clash against Julia Goerges there was a special guest sitting front row to take it all in – former World No.1 Monica Seles.

“It was a really big moment for me and I was very honored,” Babos told wtatennis.com after the match.

“It’s amazing, you know we don’t have very many huge Hungarian tennis players, and Monica has a Hungarian background – for her to be here today, on the Hungarian National Day of Tennis, watching us, it was really great.”

Seles, who won nine Grand Slam titles during her storied career, liked what she saw from the 23-year-old Hungarian No.1.

“I think ‘Timi’ has got a bright future ahead of her,” she said. “She played very well under very tough conditions today, there’s so much pressure on her and so many expectations.

“She hasn’t played well coming into this tournament, so for her to break through and really play the best tennis so far of the year here in her hometown of Budapest, is just really huge.”

It’s been four years since a WTA tournament was contested in Hungary, and this year’s edition will see the No.1 seed Babos take on the No.2 seed Lucie Safarova in the final.

“This is really a dream final for the tournament, and for it to happen in its first year just shows how much strength the WTA has,” Seles said. “I always enjoy coming back here [to Hungary] and I’m very excited there’s a WTA event now here. And that we have Timi in the final, it’s great for the first year of the tournament.”

“I hope the crowds can keep coming here to support her even more and make tennis very popular here so the tournament can keep growing.”

– Photos courtesy of Hungarian Ladies Open