Linette to clash with Fujiwara for singles ITF title

Mumbai: Polish top seed Magda Linette will clash with giant-killing qualifier Rika Fujiwara of Japan in the women`s singles finals of the USD 25000 Ganesh Naik ITF women`s tennis championships in Navi Mumbai on saturday.

In friday`s semi-final, Linette came back from a set down to defeat Kamila Keribayeva of Kazakhstan 6-8(6) 6-1 7-5 in a battle that lasted two hours and 36 minutes. In a repeat of last week`s final, Linette had to put her best foot forward to scrape past Kamila, who managed to save a match point at 5-4 in the third set before losing. In the other semifinal, old warhorse Rika Fujiwara stopped the winning run of qualifier Anna Smith of Great Britain 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 10 minutes to make it to her first final in over three years. Smith combined with compatriot Jocelyn Rae to win the doubles title of the event, organised by the the Navi Mumbai Sports Association. The British pair outplayed Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia and Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia 6-4 7-6(5) in the final. The British pair had beaten India`s Prarthana Thombare and Ankita Raina 7-5 6-3 in the semifinals.