Elina Svitolina punctuated Ukraine’s first trip to the Billie Jean King Cup final by triumphantly slamming her racket to the court Saturday in Shenzhen, China.
Svitolina sealed a 2-0 win against two-time defending champion Italy with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Jasmine Paolini in the semifinals of the women’s team tennis competition.
Anhelina Kalinina had given Ukraine the lead with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Tyra Caterina Grant. Sunday’s opponent in the final is the Czech Republic, which defeated Spain 2-0 on Friday.
Singapore Tennis Open
No. 6 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada rallied for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory against No. 5 Maja Chwalinska of Poland in a semifinal match that lasted two hours and eight minutes.
Fernandez trailed 4-3 in the second set before launching her comeback, including a crucial break in the ninth game of the second set. Both players converted five of eight break points in a tightly contested match, with Fernandez posting a 72-69 edge in total points won.
Fernandez will face unseeded Australian Talia Gibson in the final of the WTA 500 tournament on Sunday. Gibson advanced in a walkover when Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova withdrew after sustaining a concussion during a doubles match.
Korea Open
No. 2 seed Kimberly Birrell and No. 5 Maya Joint will meet in a rare all-Australian final following a busy day in Seoul.
It is the first time two Aussies have clashed for a WTA Tour title since Strasbourg in 2017 (Samantha Stosur defeated Daria Gavrilova) and just the third such final in the 21st century.
After rain interrupted play on Friday, Birrell completed her 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 quarterfinal win against Katie Volynets before outlasting No. 6 Anna Bondar of Hungary 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 in the semifinals.
Joint knocked out No. 3 Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and was leading 6-2, 1-0 when Russia’s Alina Korneeva was forced to retire from their semifinal match.
–Field Level Media
