tennis

Tomljanovic in Thailand Open final for 4th try at 1st title

Published Feb. 2, 2019 10:01 a.m. ET

HUA HIN, Thailand (AP) — Sixth-seeded Ajla Tomljanovic beat Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 6-4, 6-1 at the Thailand Open to reach her fourth WTA final on Saturday.

Chasing her first title, Tomljanovic next faces 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, who beat Magda Linette of Poland 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal.

"It was a bit scrappy in the first set but I managed to clean it up in the second," said Tomljanovic, who also reached the final in the 2015 edition when it was held in Pattaya, losing to Daniela Hantuchova.

The Australian lost finals at Rabat and Seoul last year.

"I have to play the best match out of five years to win," the 49th-ranked Tomljanovic said. "I'm excited to have another opportunity to win my first title. I don't enjoy losing in the final."

Tomljanovic broke right from the start and held on to lead 5-3. She trailed 30-0 serving for the set but delivered four powerful serves to take the opener in 40 minutes.

Tomljanovic dominated the second set with a powerful baseline game.

Yastremska's match against Linette was suspended for 10 minutes by light rain at 3-3 in the first set. When play resumed, both players held serve until the 10th game when Yastremska powered a forehand service return winner to take the set.

Eighth-seeded Yastremska hit 29 winners against Linette as she reached her second final after winning in Hong Kong in September.

"It was not easy as we had to stop due to unpredictable weather," Yastremska said. "I had to hit winners as she was consistent at the baseline. I will try to hit like this tomorrow.

Get more from tennis Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic