19-year old Dayana Yastremska is in the Adelaide International final after a 6-4, 7-6 (4) semifinal victory over sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka. The Ukrainian has not dropped a set in the tournament and will face top seed Ashleigh Barty for the championship on Saturday.
Yastremska outclasses Sabalenka to gain first Premier-level final
With the way Yastremska is striking the ball, it was important Sabalenka get off to a good start, but she was under early pressure facing 15-40 in the third game of the match after the teenager blistered a forehand winner down the line.
She saved both of those break points to eventually hold, but was again in a jam on her next service game, staring down a 0-40 deficit. After saving the first two break chances, she couldn't escape from the third after she dumped a backhand into the net as Yastremska took a 3-2 lead.
Sabalenka would fall behind 0-30 serving to stay in the set at 5-3 but she escaped to hold. The Belarusian held 0-30 on the Yastremska serve, but the teenager won the next three points to bring up set point which she converted with an ace.
The second set began in disastrous fashion for Sabalenka as she made a mess of an overhead at deuce and watched helplessly as Yastremska fired another winner past her on break point. At 2-0, she faced deuce, but powered down her own ace to set up game point to eventually hold.
The sixth seed finally started to make serious progress on the Yastremska serve, holding a break point for the first time in the match. The teenager surprisingly cracked, double-faulting to level the set at 3-3. Both players held for the rest of the set to send it to a tiebreaker.
The first point set the tone as Yastremska ripped a backhand winner down the line from an impossible position to gain the early minibreak. She gained a second minibreak with a searing forehand winner to extend her lead to 4-1. At 6-4, Yastremska held two match points, but she only needed one as Sabalenka sent a final forehand into the net.
