Katie Poulter: British top seed reaches her first WTA 500 final in San Diego

Britain's Katie Poulter reached her first WTA 500 final by defeating American Emma Navarro in straight sets at the San Diego Open.

Boulter (27 years old) won 6-3, 6-1 in 74 minutes to reach the final on Sunday. She will face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who defeated American Jessica Pegula 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

The British number one player, ranked 49th in the world, controlled her serve, winning more than 87% of first serve points.

She had just two break points, saving both.

Poulter also had to deal with a rain delay before she was able to overcome the third seed, ranked 26th in the world.

“Today was one of those matches where everything is perfect,” she said.

“I came on the field and started the first few games and felt the intensity she had and the way she worked and maneuvered the ball. I knew I had to come up with something better.”

WTA 500 events are known to offer 500 ranking points to the winner. Poulter, who will reach the highest ranking of her career thanks to her performance in California, won her only WTA title to date last year. At the Nottingham Open, WTA 250 event.

For comparison, a Grand Slam champion gets 2,000 ranking points, and WTA Finals winners can get up to 1,500 points.

Sunday's final will be the first meeting in her career between Boulter and Kostyuk, who came back from a 5-1 deficit in the first set to beat top seed Pegula, her first win over a player in the top five.