Tennis – Brisbane International – Women’s Semi Finals – Pat Rafter Arena, Brisbane, Australia, January 5, 2019 Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova in action during her match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic REUTERS/Patrick Hamilton
January 5, 2019
Fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova advanced to her second career Brisbane International final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Donna Vekic of Croatia on Saturday in Australia.
“I felt like I have control about everything I am doing,” said Pliskova, who won here in 2017.
Pliskova, of the Czech Republic, overcame a rough start to win in one hour and 20 minutes. Vekic broke Pliskova for an early 2-1 lead, before the former No. 1 found her stride.
In the final, Pliskova will face Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko, who stunned No. 2 seed Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
Pliskova has a 3-2 lead in her overall series against Tsurenko.
ASB Classic
Teenage qualifier Bianca Andreescu is into her maiden final after stunning No. 3 seed Su-wei Hsieh 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand.
The 18-year-old Canadian, who is 152nd in the WTA world rankings, was coming off wins over top seed Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams.
Andreescu will face No. 2 seed Julia Goerges of Germany in the final.
Georges advanced with a 6-1, 7-6 (6) win over Viktoria Kuzmova in the other semifinal.
Shenzhen Open
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus rallied to beat American Alison Riske 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 to win her third career title in Shenzhen, China.
With play having been delayed two days earlier, both Sabalenka and Riske had to win semifinal matches earlier in the day to set up the final, Riske’s third in the event.
–Field Level Media
