Unseeded Donna Vekic of Croatia will take on fourth-seeded Andrea Koch-Benvenuto of Chile in the singles final of the QNet ITF Open women's championship.
While Vekic ended the dream run of India's Kyra Shroff at 6-1, 7-6(4) in just over an hour-and-a-half, the Chilean had it a lot easier en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over second-seeded Akiko Omae of Japan at the KSLTA courts here on Friday.
Later in the afternoon, the top-seeded pair of Tamaryn Hendler of Belgium and Melanie Klaffner of Austria won the doubles title with a 6-1, 4-6, 10-6 victory over the Slovakian duo of Tadeja Majeric and Anja Prislan.
Vekic, with her big serves and pleasing groundstrokes, bamboozled Kyra into submission in the first set breaking the Indian in the third, fifth and seventh games to win 6-1.
Kyra was quick to recover and hit back strongly in the second.
Breaking Vekic in the third and fifth games Kyra was up and running in the second set and led 4-1 with some incredible returns.
But a couple of decisions went against the Indian which helped Donna claw back to 5-all and then 6-all.
In the tie-breaker too it was level-pegging till 4-4 before Kyra once again was at the receiving end of a poor decision and Donna wasted no time in wrapping up the set at 7-6(4).
“Yeah, some decisions did go against me. But that is something one has to take in one's stride at this level. Overall I am happy with my showing here and it gives me a lot of confidence for the tournaments ahead. I have justified my wildcard status in this event,” Kyra said.
Vekic too gave a lot of credit to her Indian opponent.
“She played some amazing shots, especially in the second set. But I am thrilled to be in the final,” Vekic said.
In the morning, the Indian pair of Rushmi Chakravarthi and Ankita Raina fought valiantly against the top seeds Tamaryn Hendler and Melanie Klaffner, a crack Belgium-Austria pairing, in the unfinished doubles but lost 10-2 in the third set tie-breaker after having traded the first two sets.
The results:
Singles: Semifinals: Andrea Koch-Benvenuto (Chi) bt Akiko Omae (Jpn) 6-3, 6-4; Donna Vekic (Cro) bt Kyra Shroff (Ind) 6-1, 7-6(4).
Doubles: Final: Tamaryn Hendler (Bel) & Melanie Klaffner (Aut) bt Tadeja Majeric & Anja Prislan (both Slo) 6-1, 4-6, 10-6.
Semifinals: Hendler & Klaffner bt Rushmi Chakravarthi & Ankita Raina (both Ind) 7-5, 5-7, 10-2.
