With surprise wins Natalija and Tereza set up title clash
MUZZAFARNAGAR: Third seeded Natalija Kostic of Serbia caused the biggest upset at the Bhavana Swaroop Women’s $25,000 ITF Tennis Tournament, outplaying top seeded Hiroka Kuawat of Japan in straight sets to make it to the singles final.
Fourth seeded Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia too surprised second seeded and country mate Nastja Kolar in a thriller, at the grassy courts of the Services Club here on Friday. Final will be played on Sunday.
With an aggressive approach from the very start of semi-final on Friday afternoon, Natalija didn’t allow her superior rival to free her arms. While holding her first serve, spirited Natalija won four straight games then before losing the sixth one Kuwata, who never looked in contention. She also had the last game to pocket the set at 6-1.
Much was expected from world no 275 Kuwata, but she could win just two games in the second set before losing it at 2-6. In fact, Natalija was at her best with perfect down the line volleys and cross-court hits.
Earlier, the first semi-final between Tereza and Nastja turned out to be a cliff-hanger with latter dictating terms in style. Despite losing the first set to second seeded Nastja, a swiftmover Tereza staged a superb comeback to win the second set at 7-6 (2).
The decider too lived up to the expectations where the two players kept their serves. But in deuce, Tereza surprised her country mate with some stunning drops at the net and took the set and match too at 7-5.
In the doubles semi-final, unseeded duo of Aldila Sutjiadi and Dan Ni Wang shocked top seeded pair of Natalija Kostic and Tereza Mihalikova 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets, whereas fourth seeded Kyoka Okamura and Michika Ozeki brushed aside Anna Makhorkina and Natasha Palha 3-6, 6-2, 10-7 in a thriller.