Pune, Dec 28 (IANS) Slovenia’s third seed Tadeja Majeric and Turkey’s Basak Eraydin will face off for the title at the NECC ITF women’s $25,000 tennis tournament being held here at the Deccan Gymkhana Saturday.
In the semi-finals played Friday, Majeric made short work of Israel’s Keren Shlomo while Eraydin knocked out top seed Nina Bratchikova from Russia.
Majeric later on partnered Swiss Conny Perrin to win the doubles title. The top seeded pair got the better of Chinese sisters Lu/Lu 3-6, 7-5, 10-6.
In the first semi-final, Majeric, trying to become the first ever Slovenian to win a title at the NECC ITF tournament, was too consistent and strong for the unranked Shlomo from Israel.
After Shlomo cancelled out Majeric’s opening game service break in the seventh game, the Slovenian got the decisive break in the seventh, before wrapping up the set 6-4.
The second set was a much easier affair for the third seed as she broke Shlomo thrice, winning the set 6-1. This was the first time Majeric has made it to the final of this event in her third appearance and she has a chance to make it even more memorable by clinching a double crown Saturday.
Standing in her way would be unranked and World No.354 Basak Eraydin. The Turkey girl, who had knocked out fifth seed Conny Perrin and fourth Seed Sheng Nan Sun on her way to semis, got the better of a player who is ranked 274 places above her.
Bratchikova, the top seed, hit fierce shots from both flanks but Eraydin used that pace, especially on the backhand side, with great effect to stay on top.
In a closely fought first set that lasted for 50 minutes, both players got a break each early on. Eraydin got the decisive break in the 12th game to go one set up.
Second set saw as many as five service breaks but Eaydin’s strong serving after going up 5-3 made the difference. Eraydin, who won the match in 87 minutes thus became second Turkish player to have made it to the final of this event. Ipec Sennoglu had finished runner-up in 2002 at the NECC ITF event.
The doubles final went the distance with the Lu sisters, who had won the title last year, failing to repeat that performance.
The singles final would be played 10 am onwards Saturday.
Results: Singles semifinal: 3-Tadeja Majeric (SLO) bt Keren Shlomo (ISR) 6-4, 6-1; Basak Eraydin (TUR) bt 1-Nina Bratchikova (RUS) 7-5, 6-3.
Doubles final: 1-Tadeja Majeric (SLO)/Conny Perrin (SUI) bt 4-Jia Xiang Lu/Jia Jing Lu (CHN) 3-6, 7-5, 10-6.
