Yang Zhaoxuan of China beat eighth-seeded Prerna Bhambri 6-1, 6-1, in just under an hour, in the semifinals of the Airtel $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament here on Friday.
With her big serves and punchy drives on both flanks, the 16-year-old Chinese was a class apart, despite an unflattering world ranking of 1090.
Yang started on the wrong foot with two double faults, but recovered so quickly that she conceded only 10 points in all in her seven service games in the whole match.
Much in contrast to the quick execution by the Chinese, the sixth-seeded Kim Hae Sung of Korea needed three hours and 40 minutes to subdue the third-seeded Nadia Abdala of Mexico 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
To their credit, both the girls, in their contrasting physique, played their heart out till the very end. The tall Nadia, with an athletic build, started well as she raced to a 5-2 lead, but was denied a quick finish to the set as the chair-umpire over-ruled an ace on match-point as fault in the eighth game.
Nadia dropped serve in that game and took the set in the tenth game. In the second set, Nadia fought back to be on par at 5-5 after the Korean had taken a 4-2 lead, but managed to win only three points in the next two games.
In the decider also, Nadia fought back from being down 0-2, to be on par at 3-3, but double-faulted on match-point in the tenth game in bringing the curtains down on the marathon match.
In the doubles final, Kim Hae Sung, in partnership with Kim Ju Eun, beat the top-seeded Keren Shlomo of Israel and Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-3, 6-4.
Kim Hae Sung may nurse aspirations of a double crown on the morrow, but she may have a tough time against the explosive game of the Chinese, Yang Zhaoxuan, who has dropped only 14 games in four rounds.
The results: Singles (quarterfinals): Yang Zhaoxuan (Chn) bt Prerna Bhambri 6-1, 6-1; Kim Hae Sung (Kor) bt Nadia Abdala (Mex) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles (final): Kim Hae Sung & Kim Ju Eun (Kor) bt Keren Shlomo (Isr) & Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-3, 6-4.
