By Tennis Now | Saturday, February 2, 2019
No. 8-seeded Dayana Yastremska pounded out a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Magda Linette setting up a Hua Hin final against Ajla Tomljanovic.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Dayana Yastremska aspires to unpredictability.
The 18-year-old Yastremska continues a week of powerful consistency in Thailand.
More: WTA New Haven Tournament Moves To China
The eighth-seeded Yastremska pounded out a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Magda Linette to power into her second career final in Hua Hin.
"I'm so happy right now, I can't describe it," Yastremska said afterward. "Today, I tried to be unpredictable. I love that word...
"I had to make winners; she's really stable from the baseline."
The explosive Yastremska zapped nearly five times as many winners as Linette (29 to 6) and converted three of six break points. Yastremska hammered a backhand winner down the line to close her sixth win in her last seven matches.
The Ukrainian teenager has not surrendered a set in four wins this week, including a 7-6 (5), 6-1, sweep of top-seeded Garbine Muguruza in yesterday's quarterfinals.
Yastremska will take on Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in tomorrow's final.
The sixth-seeded Tomljanovic continued her tear through the tournament dismissing Tamara Zidansek, 6-4, 6-1, in today's first semifinal.
Tomljanovic brought too much pace for Zidansek today.
"I thought it was a good match from my side," Tomljanovic said. "It was a little bit scrappy maybe in the first set, but I managed to clean it up in the second set.
"I expected a really tough match. I played her twice last year, and it was always really tough. She gets a lot of balls back, and she's playing a more aggressive now than last year. I'm really thrilled to be in my first final of the year."
The 49th-ranked Tomljanovic is aiming for her first career title in her fourth WTA final.
In their lone prior meeting, Yastremska scored a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, triumph over Tomljanovic in Beijing qualifying last fall.
Since Yastremska claimed her first career title in Hong Kong last autumn, she's advanced to quarterfinals or better in three of her four main-draw appearances.