Rising Kiwi star
Paige Hourigan is into the doubles final of the ASB Classic, with the Kiwi and American Taylor Townsend beating No 2 seeds Kirsten Flipkens and Johanna Larsson 6-3 7-5.
The win continues an incredible tournament for Hourigan and Townsend, who had not played doubles together before and needed a wildcard to make it into the draw.
Hourigan and Townsend talked about playing together while training at Georgia Tech late last year.
They were both outstanding yesterday against their experienced opponents.
‘‘I’m playing with an incredible partner and when we’re out there we’re taking one point at a time and they were missing shots,’’ Hourigan said.
‘‘We were keeping everything simple and just kept on going, so it was great.’’
As in their earlier quarterfinal against the Australian doubles specialists, Monique Adamczak and Jessica Moore, they played at a level no-one expected from them and deservedly won the first set.
With Flipkens serving at 5-5 in the second set, the New Zealand/ American team lifted their game and got the vital break to allow Townsend to serve for the match.
Larsson put the ball into the net at 30-15 for a match point and a smash at the net from Hourigan sealed the victory.
Hourigan becomes the first Kiwi to make the final of the women’s doubles at the Classic since Marina Erakovic in 2011.
‘‘I don’t even think I’ve processed it yet, it’s pretty cool,’’ Hourigan said of being in a WTA final.