Dubai: It will be a battle between experience and youth as Chinese Taipei’s Su-Wei Hsieh and Natalia Vikhlyantseva have secured contrasting semi-final wins to set up a potentially exciting final in the 19th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, which will conclude at the Habtoor Grand Resort Autograph Collection on Saturday.
The 30-year-old Taipei woman secured a gutsy 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in nearly two hours against Germany’s Mona Barthel, while the 19-year-old Russian staved off Dutch qualifier Lesley Kerkhove 6-1, 7-6 (5) for a meeting in today’s final.
In the first semi-final, Vikhlyantseva was in total control as an early break in between held serves saw the young Russian take 3-0 in the clear to eventually wrap up the set 6-1 in less than half an hour. But her opponent — one of the four qualifiers to make it through to the semi-finals — came alive in the second set, matching her until 6-6 to force the set into a tie-breaker that the 19-year-old Russian went on to win 7-5 in an hour and 14 minutes.
A comparative newcomer, the Russian made her WTA debut at the 2015 Shenzhen Open where she had received a wild card. Her start on the WTA Tour was impressive with a first round win in three sets against Anna-Lena Friedsam before going down to Simona Halep 6-2, 6-2 in the second round.
Since then, Vikhlyantseva has worked her way up in the rankings to a current career-high No. 148 that she achieved last month after ending on the losing side in three sets against Caroline Garcia at the Limoges Open in France.
The second semi-final was keenly contested, with Barthel sending down two aces to match a couple of double faults to still win the opening set 6-3 in 32 minutes. The second went the distance with the Taipei contender breaking in the 12th game — thanks to four double faults from her German opponent — to clinch the set 7-5 and send the match into a deciding third set.
The decider was a sweep with Hsieh recording a couple of breaks against a tiring opponent to take the set in just 25 minutes and prepare for an engrossing clash in the final against a much younger player.
Meanwhile, Mandy Minella and Nina Stojanovic became the first pair to ease into the doubles final with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 win against fourth seeds Lesley Kerkhove and Lidziya Marozava.
RESULTS
Semi-final results at the 19th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge on Friday
(Singles) Su-Wei Hsieh def. Mona Barthel 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; Natalia Vikhlyantseva def. Lesley Kerkhove 6-1, 7-6 (5).
(Doubles) Mandy Minella/Nina Stojanovic def. Lesley Kerkhove/Lidziya Marozava 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (4); Hsieh Su-wei/Valeria Savinykh vs Natela Dzalamidze/Veronika Kudermetova.
