Vandeweghe up against Goerges in Elite Trophy final

ZHUHAI (China): Second-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe will clash with German Julia Goerges in the Elite Trophy final after they registered identical straight-set wins in their respective semi-final matches.

After seventh seed Goerges had overpowered Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-3 in the first semi-final, American Vandeweghe took to court to outplay Australian Ashleigh Barty with the same scoreline.

Goerges broke Sevastova in the opening game and never took her foot off the pedal to clinch the first set in 40 minutes.

In the second set too, Goerges broke Sevastova early to take charge and she sealed an easy victory with a backhand winner down the line to avenge her loss to the Latvian in Mallorca in June.

The German reeled off 41 winners and did not face a break point in the contest, winning 76% of her second-service points as she sailed into her fifth final of the year.

Vandeweghe likewise had little trouble in claiming the first set against Barty, the American losing just one point on serve and winning 16 straight points on serve.

She raced to a 5-2 lead in the second but Barty saved three match points in the next game before the American came back to serve out the match.

Vandeweghe fired a total of 32 winners against nine unforced errors to assert her dominance. The American will break into the top 10 for the first time in next week’s rankings after reaching her second final of the year.

Despite the defeat, Barty finishes the year as the highest ranked Australian, inside the top 20.