Ukraine's Elina confident of beating Japan's Kimiko
Ukraine’s 18-year-old Elina Svitolina will take on 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan in the final of the USD 125,000 Royal Indian Open WTA Challenger at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi here on Sunday.
On Saturday, Svitolina served 10 aces in her 6-2, 7-5 semi-final victory against wild card entrant Andrea Petkovic of Germany. In the other semi-final, Date-Krumm registered a hard-fought 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory over eighth seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.
Svitolina is now confident of taking on Date-Krumm — 24 years her senior — in the finale. “Kimiko is a very experienced player but once we enter the court, age does not matter,” Svitolina said on Saturday.
Speaking of her win over, former World NO 9 Petkovic, Svitolina (current WTA ranking 156) said, “It’s a great experience as she’s a former Top 10 player. This win is my best after the junior French Open title in 2010.”
Sixth seed Petkovic blamed her inconsistency for the defeat even as she gave credit to her opponent. “Svitolina played really well. It was tough to break her.” said 25-year-old Petkovic.
Meanwhile, Date-Krumm is not bothered about the final result. “I just want to enjoy it (final) and not think of the outcome as I have nothing to lose.”u00a0
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