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Russian Elena Vesnina -
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It will be an all-Russian ASB Classic final, after Russian Elena
Vesnina outlasted Brit Anne Keovothong 6-7 (7-3) 6-1 7-5 in a
thrilling second semi-final on Friday.
The 22-year-old Vesnina lifted her game late in the third set to
win an intense three hour duel.
Keovothong showed remarkable grit to save four match points, before
Vesnina finally nailed the fifth.
For the second consecutive match Vesnina benefited from a crucial
net cord at a critical time late in the topsy turvy third set. Was
it her destiny to win?
Both players made a mountain of errors, especially in the first set
(Vesnina 25 unforced errors, Keovothong 15 unforced errors) but the
quality of the tennis noticeably lifted in the epic third set.
World number 79 Vesnina admitted that at the outset she was
feeling the effects of Thursday night's marathon quarter-final
with Caroline Wozniacki.
"I was feeling the a little bit heavy in the first set."
Something was certainly disjointed, as the Russian made an
astonishing 25 unforced errors - more than six games worth.
Fortunately, her opponent managed 15 which kept the Russian in the set.
The tiebreak saw Keovothong play the smarter tennis, and after
yet more mistakes from Vesnina the British girl had three set
points at 6-3 and took the first one.
The second set unravelled quite quickly for Keovothong and was over
in just 23 minutes, but was a lot closer than the 6-1 scoreline
suggests.
Both players had four breakpoint opportunities. The Russian took three, the Brit one and that was the set.
The third set lasted for one hour and twenty four minutes and was pure sporting drama, as the stakes grew higher and the rallies longer.
It had everything. Contentious line calls, some wonderful shots
and some (un)timely net cords.
Vesnina gained the crucial break to go to 6-5 and then just had to
serve out the match.
The last game was a thriller. Vesnina sprinted to a 40-0 lead,
three match points and surely an unassailable lead.
Not quite. Two missed forehands and a double fault and we had
deuce, to the delight of the roaring crowd.
Keovothong then forced two consecutive break point opportunities
but couldn't take her ticket back into the match, before Vesnina
gained another match point and clinched it with an unreturnable
first serve.
Vesnina faces her doubles partner and tournament top seed Elena
Dementieva in Saturday's ASB Classic final. The pair have met once
previously on the WTA tour, with Dementieva claiming a 6-1 4-6 6-4
victory back in 2006.
