Top seed Belinda Bencic was to face second seed Roberta Vinci in the St Petersburg final yesterday after beating Darya Kasatkina 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday’s semi-final.
Vinci, the US Open runner-up last season, overcame former French Open winner Ana Ivanovic, seeded fourth, 7-5, 6-4.
Swiss teenager Bencic, the world No. 11, won her first ever WTA Tour meeting with Russian Kasatkina to ensure she would begin the week inside the top 10.
Photo: EPA
“It’s a huge achievement for me to be in top 10,” 18-year-old Bencic said. “It was always like a dream for me from my early childhood. This is a very big day for me. Vinci is a very experienced player and it will be very tough to oppose her tomorrow [Sunday] as she’s currently on the peak of her career, but now I’m in the top 10 and in the final so I will just enjoy it. Of course I want to win, but I will be relaxed in the final.”
The teenagers both played nervously from the start, but Bencic produced fewer unforced errors and twice broke Kasatkina’s serve. The local favorite still appeared jaded from Friday’s three-setter against Dominika Cibulkova, as well as her doubles duties.
Bencic broke Kasatkina’s serve again halfway through the second set, before serving out for the victory.
Serbian former world No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion Ivanovic started her semi-final aggressively, clinching a 3-0 lead with an early break, but Italian Vinci broke back twice to win the opening set.
Vinci, the world No. 16, broke in the seventh game of the second set and that proved enough for a place in her 15th WTA Tour final.
“I’m really happy to win today,” Vinci said. “It was an incredible match, so tight at the beginning. It’s always tough to play Ana because she plays so quickly, but after I was 3-0 down in the first set I forced myself to play more aggressively and it paid off.”
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