Lina Glushko of Israel and Manon Leonard of France will battle it out for the singles title on Saturday after progressing to the final of the WIPHOLD International in Pretoria.
Opening her season in style, unseeded Glushko continued her impressive run at the ITF World Tennis Tour W50 women's tournament by stunning top seed Laura Pigossi of Brazil in their semifinal on Friday, earning a 6-3 6-4 victory.
Competing at an ITF tournament in Pretoria for the third year in a row, Glushko did well to book her place in her third straight singles final in South Africa's capital city, and she hoped to go one step further by lifting the trophy on Saturday.
A perfect day for 🇮🇱 Lina Glushko👌
— Tennis South Africa (@TennisSA) February 23, 2024
She stuns top seed Laura Pigossi 6-3, 6-4 to reach the singles final at the WIPHOLD International in Tshwane.#WIPHOLDinternational
📷 Barco Greeff pic.twitter.com/ZZgxrL9Z7f
"Coming into this match I believed in myself and knew I could win, but she's a good player and I just stuck to the tactics I agreed on with my coach. So, I'm really happy I was able to do it," Glushko said.
"It's my first final of the year and I'm super happy to open my season like this, and I'm looking forward to the final to try and get the winner's trophy."
In the other semifinal on Friday, Leonard defeated No 4 seed Guiomar Maristany Zuleta de Reales of Spain.
In a hard-fought contest which went to three sets, Leonard triumphed with a 7-6(4) 3-6 6-2 win.
Through to the final! 🙌
— Tennis South Africa (@TennisSA) February 23, 2024
🇫🇷 Manon Leonard earns her way into the WIPHOLD International final 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2 over Guiomar Maristany Zulete de Reales to meet Lina Glushko for the title.
The final will be broadcast LIVE on @SABC_Sport from 10h00 tomorrow.#WIPHOLDinternational pic.twitter.com/Y2H4LqmmkS
Meanwhile, in the doubles semifinals, No 3 seeds Sofia Costoulas and Hanne Vandewinkel of Belgium beat No 2 seeds Rina Saigo and Yukina Saigo of Japan, securing a 6-4 6-1 victory.
Glushko also kept her doubles hopes alive, joining Czech partner Gabriela Knutson as they defeated Indy de Vroome of the Netherlands and Amelie van Impe of Belgium, wrapping up a 6-3 6-2 win.
Costoulas and Vandewinkel will face Glushko and Knutson in the doubles final on Saturday.