made her first WTA quarterfinal at the Korea Open, clinching her first top-10 victory over world No. 10, Jeļena Ostapenko, in straight sets. Alexandrova made an astonishing run at another international tournament, now in Linz, Austria, reaching the final of a WTA tournament for the first time. Sailing through the qualifying rounds with the loss of just four games, Alexandrova beat compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to reach her first WTA semifinal. There, she recovered from a bagel to beat former top-10 player Andrea Petkovic and booked her spot in the final. However, she was defeated by Camila Giorgi in straight sets, but nonetheless made her return to the top 100 with her fantastic run. She ended the season by tradition at the Open de Limoges, winning the title for the second time in her career after beating Evgeniya Rodina in straight sets. This victory solidified her place in the top 100, finding herself at the 73rd spot of the rankings after the tournament. 2019: Russian No. 1 In 2019, Alexandrova continued to earn more success on the WTA Tour. She began her season at the Shenzhen Open, where she lost in the second round to eventual champion and top seed Aryna Sabalenka. Playing in a WTA tournament main draw at home for the first time, Alexandrova prevailed in the qualifying rounds before reaching the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Trophy where she fell to Sabalenka, in straight sets once again. She then set a new career-high ranking of No. 59 after a semifinal run at the Hungarian Open where she held five match points against eventual champion Alison Van Uytvanck. With her best result at a Premier Mandatory event, Alexandrova reached the third round of the Premier Mandatory Indian Wells Open by beating world No. 13 Wozniacki, in three sets. She did not perform well on clay-court tournaments, except at the French Open, reaching the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career. She beat 30th seed Mihaela Buzărnescu in the first round, before stunning 2010 finalist Samantha Stosur in the second round. In the grass-court season, Alexandrova made it into the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne International and Rosmalen Championships, losing there to eventual champions Karolína Plíšková] and Alison Riske, respectively. A disappointing first-round exit at Wimbledon followed, losing to Kateřina Siniaková in three sets. She achieved her best run in a