SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Fifth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova topped Garbine Muguruza in straight sets here on Friday, advancing to the WTA Shenzhen open final with Elena Rybakina.
The Russian took one hour and 16 minutes to bag a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the sixth seeded Spaniard, moving to within one victory of winning a maiden WTA trophy.
"It was a tough match. I was calmer than yesterday and I am happy I did my best today and hope I can do it tomorrow," Alexandrova said after the match.
The world No. 34 broke in the sixth game of the first set to build a 4-2 lead, before squandering three set points and handed over her serve-to-win game. However, the Russian saved a game-point to break the Spaniard again and won the first set.
Alexandrova continued her momentum with explosive groundstrokes and raced to a 5-1 lead. The Russian then went through bumps to hand over two games before converting her second match point to seal the victory.
In the other semifinal, No.7 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan beat Czech Kristyna Pliskova 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 13 minutes, reaching her third WTA final and also seeking to win her first title in a career.
