By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, July 27, 2018
Seventeen-year-old lucky loser Olga Danilovic toppled top seed Julia Goerges, 6-3, 6-3, to surge into her first WTA semifinal.
Photo credit: Moscow River Cup Facebook
The lucky loser was a massive Moscow winner.
Seventeen-year-old lucky loser Olga Danilovic toppled top seed Julia Goerges, 6-3, 6-3, in a stunning upset to surge into her first career WTA semifinal at the Moscow River Cup.
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The 187th-ranked Serbian scored the first Top 10 victory of her career.
The left-handed Danilovic, who conquered eighth-seeded Kaia Kanepi, 7-6 (3), 7-5 on Wednesday, hit a piercing forehand in deconstructing the world No. 10 today.
Danilovic drilled 14 winners in a comprehensive 76-minute victory.
"Every win here is important, especially since I played with one of the top players in the world right now," Danilovic said afterward in comments published by WTA Tennis.com. "It’s an amazing feeling, an amazing win."
Goerges, who won the Moscow indoors title last fall, committed 20 unforced errors, nearly doubling the teenager's total of 11.
"There’s not such a big plan with these kind of players, she’s by far one of the best players in the world," Danilovic said. "[My coach] just told me to play my game, to try and be focused all the time, not to panic, not to go up-and-down in my game, to keep my serve.
"I knew that she has a huge serve, so I was just trying to find my place, to find the right spots to play, and to fight till the end."
Danilovic will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich for a spot in Sunday's final. The fifth-seeded Belarusian took a walkover into the semifinals from third-seeded Anastasija Sevastova.
Tamara Zidansek backed up her three-set upset of second-seeded Daria Kasatkina defeating German Laura Siegemund, 6-3, 6-4.
Zidansek will play Russian wild card Anastasia Potapova for a place in the final. Potapova rallied for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, comeback win over compatriot Valentyna Ivakhnenko.