Britain’s top-ranked Katie Boulter will aim for her fourth WTA title when she squares off against Russian Diana Shnaider in the final of the Hong Kong Open tennis tournament on Sunday. She defeated Chinese sixth seed Yue Yuan 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 on her way to the summit clash. The second seed, who won the Nottingham Open and San Diego Open earlier in the year, will also break into the top 25 when the WTA rankings are updated next week.
Against Yuan, Boulter had a tough opening set before they shared four breaks of serve in the second set. The 26-year-old Chinese then broke the Briton again to force a deciding third set. In the opening game of the final set, Boulter upped the intensity to race to a 3-0 lead.
However, Yuan double faulted to Boulter a double break before showing her real grit in a marathon fourth game against the world No.45. On the other hand, Shnaider overcame a Leylah Fernandez challenge to beat the Canadian world no.14 6-4, 6-2.
"That was an unbelievable match. I mean she (Yue) makes it so hard to win any point in the match and I just had to keep believing, keep fighting and try to find a way through. I'm a little grumpy today, I'm a little tired but I managed to find a way so I'm really happy with that," said Boulter.
Boulter has never faced Shnaider in her career and Sunday’s mega contest will mark the first-ever meeting between the two at the top level. The 28-year-old Boulter is relatively bit more experienced as far as the 20-year-old Shnaider is concerned but one can never say who’s going to win on a given day.
Live streaming of Katie Boulter vs Diana Shnaider will be available on Tennis TV from anywhere in the world but one needs to use a VPN to watch the game for free. The Hong Kong Open final will start at 11:30 AM IST at Victoria Park on Sunday.
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