Unseeded Natela Dzalamidze of Russia knocked out top seed Cindy Burger of The Netherlands in the singles semi-final of the USD 25,000 Ganesh Naik ITF Women's Tennis Championship today.
Natela, ranked 329th, saved three match points in the second set after dropping the opening set against the 226th ranked No. 1 seed to carve out a 2-6 7-6(10-8) 7-5 win after a two-hour, 50-minute battle at the Ganesh Naik Tennis Complex at Vashi in Navi Mumbai.
The Russian will meet another unseeded player, Nina Stojanovic of Serbia, in the final tomorrow.
Nina, who had scalped second seed Sofia Shapatava and sixth seed Emily Webley Smith earlier in the tournament, ousted Chloe Paquet of France in three sets in the other semi- final.
The victory set Nina up in line for a double crown after having made the doubles final with partner Despina Papamichail of Greece.
The results (semi-finals):
Singles: Natela Dzalamidze(RUS) bt Cindy Burger(NED,1) 2-6 7-6(10-8) 7-5; Nina Stojanovic(SRB) bt Chloe Paquet (FRA) 6-3 5-7 7-6(2).
Doubles: Miyabi Inoue/Miki Miyamura(JPN,1) bt Kamonwan Buayam(THA)/Ayaka Okuno(JPN) 6-1 2-6 10-3; Despina Papamichail (GRE)/Nina Stojanovic (SRB) bt Cindy Burger/Veronika Kapshay (UKR) 6-3 6-3.
