Current Title Holder and fourth seeded Nao Hibino of Japan will take on unseeded player Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the Women's Singles Finals of the 18th edition of the Tashkent Open WTA Championships being played at the Olympic tennis School in Tashkent.
In the semifinals played today Hibino played steady , composed and quick thinking tennis to register a 6-2,6-3 win over ninth seeded Denisa Allertova of Czech Republic in 1 hour six minutes , Hibino will be challenged in the finals by the hard serving Kristyna Pliskova of Czech Republic who came back from 2-5 in the first set to stop Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova 7-6(2),6-0 in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
In the doubles finals Ipek Soylu of Turkey and Raluca Olaru of Romania will clash with third seeds Reneta Vorcova of the Czech Republic and Demi Schuurs of Netherlands for the title.
In The semifinals Soylu and Olaru stopped Kristyna Pliskova and Amra Sadikovic of Switzerland 7-5,6-2 , while Vorcova and Schuurs ended the challenge of Hirok Kuwata of Japan and local girls Nigina Abduraimova 7-6(5),6-3
Fourth seeded Japanese Nao Hibino will look to become the first player to break the 18 year old Tashkent open Jinx by winning the title for the second time ( No player in the last 18 years has won the title two times. The event always had a new winner ) . The 21 year Hibino who had lost to Allertova on Grass in England earlier started well breaking twice in the first set and win it easily 6-2 .
Hibino showed good movement and kept the ball back reducing the momentum of Allertova attack , Allertova started cracking and was broken again in the 3rd and the 7th games to go down 6-3 in the semifinals and averting a possibility of a All Czech Final with Pliskova.
" Unbelievable " , I was nervous and wanted to make the final at any cost , I focused on every point and it helped, said a happy Hibino after the match. Hibino will take on in form left hander Krystina Pliskova for the crown . " I have played against Pliskova twice and have lost both times , I will be the challenger tomorrow . But I Will be looking forward to break the Tashkent jinx of a player never having won the title for the second time by winning here tomorrow', added Hibino.
In the second semifinals the 100th ranked Kristyna Pliskova of Czech Republic who is having a dream run at the Tashkent Open came back from being a set point and 2-5 down to capture the set in the tiebreak and register a 7-6 (2),6-0 win against another unseeded player Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine
Pliskova who served 9 aces today , ended the match with splendid left hand forehand cross court winner Kozlova could not recover mentally from the loss of the first set . " It feels great to be in my first ever WTA tour event final , It was a tough First set , Kozlova was playing well and didn't give me many chances , also it was very cold and the balls were heavy . I have played her earlier and knew she would make mistakes , so I waited for my chance , my coach who I called at 2-5 also pepped me up and told me to be calm , this helped "
Pliskova further said " Before i came here didn't have too many expectations but to make points to be able to play the Aussie open , but these points will take me to my highest rankings .
Following are the results ( ALL Semifinals)
Singles
Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) bt Kateryna Kozlova (Ukr ) 7-6(2),6-0
S.4 Nao Hibino ( Jpn) bt Denisa Allertova (Cze) 6-2,6-3 .
Doubles :
Ipek Soylu (Tur) / Raluca Olaru (Rou) bt Kristyna Pliskova (Cze)/ Amra Sadikovic (Sui) 7-5,6-2
S.3 Reneta Vorcova(Cze)/ Demi Schuurs ( Ned )bt Hirok Kuwata (Jpn)/ Nigina Abduraimova (Uzb) 7-6(5),6-3
Age:17 (30 Mar 2001)
Birth Place:Saratov, Russia
Nationality:Russia
Plays:Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
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