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Dalila Jakupovic to face Aryna Sabalenka in Mumbai Open singles final
Dalila Jakupovic beat Sabina Sharipova to enter $125,000 L&T Mumbai Open final. Aryna Sabalenka defeated Amandine Hessa in the other semi-final
Mumbai Unseeded Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia is in line for a double crown at the $125,000 L&T Mumbai Open after defeating Uzbekistan’s Sabina Sharipova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the singles semi-finals on Saturday. She will face Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka who beat Amandine Hessa 6-2, 6-3 in the day’s other semi-final.
Jakupovic has already entered the doubles final with Russian partner Irina Khromacheva. On Friday, Ankita Raina was beaten 6-3, 7-6 by Hesse in the quarter-final.
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The 26-year-old Jakupovic, who entered the doubles final with her Russian partner Irina Khromacheva last evening, quelled a strong challenge from her younger and higher-ranked Uzbek rival to chalk out a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory in 1 hour and 41 minutes in the WTA event at the Cricket Club of India.
Jakupovic, ranked 252, dropped the first set after taking an early 2-0 lead as she was broken in successive games which helped her 23-year-old rival from Tashkent, ranked 186, take a 4-2 lead from where Sharipova surged to the set 6-3 in half an hour.
Jakupovic, who had not reached beyond the second round of a WTA event before reaching here, bounced back brilliantly to break her rival in the fifth game of the second set that she later clinched 6-3 in 31 minutes leading to the decider.
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Sharipova, who had reached her second WTA event quarter final after upsetting third seed Yanina Wickmayer in the round of 16, had a golden chance to take early control of the third set but frittered away three break-points in the sixth game that Jakupovic finally won after the third deuce call.
Encouraged by this escape, Jakupovic attacked her rival’s serve in the next game forcing Sharipova to commit errors and broke the Uzbek’s serve with a lovely drop shot followed by a double-fault by Sharipova.
The Slovenian player then held serve at 15 for a 5-3 lead and then put Sharipova’s service under press again to prise out errors from the Uzbek’s racquet.
Sharipova netted a forehand to be a match-point down, saved it but double-faulted to face the second match-point and dropped the serve and the match when she hit a forehand wide.
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In the doubles semi final, the second-seeded pair of Jakupovic and Khromacheva got the better of fourth seeds Julia Glushko of Israel and Priscilla Hon of Australia 6-3, 6-2.
Jakupovic and Khromacheva will meet Victoria Rodrigues of Mexico and Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands in the final which is to be played after the singles final.
Results (Semi-finals): Singles: Dalila Jakupovic (SLO) bt Sabina Sharipova (UZB) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Doubles: 2-Dalila Jakupovic (SLO)/Irina Khromacheva (RUS) bt 4-Julia Glushko (ISR)/Priscilla Hon (AUS) 6-3, 6-2; Victoria Rodrigues (MEX)/ Bibiane Schoofs (NED) bt Beatrice Gumulya (INA)/Ana Veselinovic (MNE) 7-6(2), 6-4.
