Vinci beats Ivanovic to reach St. Petersburg final

Belinda Bencic will be the newest member of the world’s top 10 on Monday after defeating fellow 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina in the semi-finals of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.

Over the course of a two-and-a-half-hour match which concluded after midnight, the Swiss world No. 11 ground down her fifth-seeded Russian opponent to win 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2.

“Roberta played wonderful today and throughout this tournament”, Bencic said at the award ceremony.

The Swiss player is chasing her third title on the WTA Tour and her first since she secured victory at the Canadian Open in August past year, but she faces a tough test against the experienced Vinci, who reached the final of the US Open in 2015.

In the decider, Bencic was in complete command, breaking her rival’s serve twice to take the match.

“It’s the first time in my career that I rallied from behind to win such a prolonged match”, Kasatkina said.

Vinci was given a real battle by Hungary’s Timea Babos but came through 7-6 (7/3) 4-6 7-6 (7/4) after two hours and 33 minutes. “This success really matters for me as I’ve played just a few WTA matches so far”.

Vinci said she had been “so tight, so nervous” at the start but “I stayed focused and I won a great match”.

“It was much tougher than the scoreline suggests”, Vinci said.

Ivanovic was in fine fettle from the off in her 6-1 7-5 victory against Kateryna Kozlova, the Serb winning the first five games of the opening set.