Canberra, Jan 16 (.) Russia’s Mirra Andreeva will play Victoria Mboko of Canada in the final at the Adelaide International in a match between the highest-ranked teenagers on the women’s tennis tour.
World No. 8 Andreeva, the third seed in Adelaide, defeated her compatriot and doubles partner Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Australian Open warm-up event on Friday to advance to Saturday’s final, where she will face 17th-ranked Mboko.
It will be the first match on the WTA Tour between Andreeva, 18, and Mboko, 19. The pair is the only teenagers currently ranked among the world’s top 25 female players.
Andreeva has not dropped a set in her three matches in Adelaide and has had her serve broken only once in each match.
On Friday, the Russian hit nine more winners and 10 fewer unforced errors than Shnaider, who is currently ranked 23rd in the world.
“In the beginning, I was a little bit passive, I was very nervous before the match,” Andreeva said on court after beating Shnaider.
“I was just trying to stick to the plan no matter what, to play my game, to be smart, to choose the right decisions, and to make the right choices on the court.”
Andreeva will be playing for her fourth WTA Tour singles title in Saturday’s final, while Mboko will be playing for her third.
. XINHUA VAN .