Shvedova to clash with Santangelo for maiden WTA title

Bangalore, Feb 17 (UNI) Debutant Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia defeated Tzipora Obziler of Israel 7-5, 6-2 to lock horns with defending champion Mara Santangelo of Italy in the finals of the 175,000 Dollar Sony Ericsson International WTA tennis tournament here tomorrow.

Earlier, in the first semifinals today, top seed Mara Santangelo, ranked 36, trounced Olga Savchuk of Ukraine in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 to storm into the finals. She proved her supremacy by wrapping up the game within 50 minutes, giving no room for her opponent to settle down.

A determined Santangelo, the only seed left in the tournament with underdogs defeating all the other seeds, including Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza, had a cake walk since there was no force either in Olga's service or return.

Teenaged Yaroslava, who had ousted Sania in the quarterfinals yesterday, maintained her tempo and defeated 32-year-old Obziler in the other semifinals with her superior serves and backhand strokes.

The match lasted 136 minutes.

Yaroslava, a product of the Academycetevalin Valencia, Spain, was, however, made to sweat it out in the first set as Obziler took an early lead (2-0). The Russian pulled up her socks and broke Obziler in the third game after which she did not look back.

The second set saw Yaroslava dominate right from the beginning, unlike the first set. Obziler could take only two games, cashing in on the unforeseen errors committed by the winner.

''I am ten times happy than yesterday. I did not have much to struggle like yesterday against Sania. After going down initially in the first set, I regrouped and played with determination to finish off on a winning note,'' Yaroslava said after the match.

Yaroslava, heading for her maiden international title, was happy with the crowd support she got today. ''I love the Bangalore crowd, they supported me very well today and I want them to extend support in the finals tomorrow also.'' (Eds: Here, pick up suitably from SPM 27) UNI