Ling Zhang overcomes Tetiana Luzhanska to reach the final – Challenger of Granby 2011
Dream run for the 21-year-old Ling Zhang from Hong Kong continued at the National Bank’s Challenger of Granby, as she surprised the second seed, Tetiana Luzhanska of Ukraine, in the semi-final encounter on Saturday.
Seeded at number four in the tournament, Zhang carried on her sublime form in the round of four as well, registering a straight sets victory against Luzhanska to make a spot in the final of the ITF (International Tennis Federation)
tournament. The Chinese took down Luzhanska 6-2, 7-5, taking one hour and fifteen minutes of play to earn a title shot in the final.
The contest appeared pretty one-sided in the beginning but ended after a stiff resistance from the Ukrainian competitor. Zhang blasted her way through the opening set but had to toil a bit in the second set to conclude victory
and eject Luzhanska from the tournament.
Zhang served with 67 per cent precision in the opening set and reeled off 10 first serve points, while her opponent followed her with six points. The Chinese was off to a flyer in the opener and stung a serve break in the very
first game of the match to reveal her aggressive intentions quickly. Luzhanska had a break opportunity a couple of games later and she made the full use of it to bring back Zhang on even terms.
It was 2-2 in the opening set when Zhang shifted her gears to rocket past Luzhanska, striking two consecutive break points. The Chinese picked up momentum from her serve breaks and quickly raced away to set point at 5-2. The fourth
seed Chinese faced no real difficulty in the serving out of the first set at 6-2 to get one up in the contest.
Luzhanska’s performance in the opener suggested that she won’t be able to pose some serious resistance to her opponent but the Ukrainian stood up to the task and gave some tough time to Zhang before eventually submitting the set
in the twelfth game. Luzhanska converted two of her three break chances but Zhang bettered her by cashing in three of her four break opportunities in the second set to finally conclude victory at 7-5, earning a place in the final of the Challenger of Granby.
Zhang will take on the top seed Canadian, Stephanie Dubois, in the final battle for the championship title on Sunday afternoon. The home favourite Dubois defeated the third seeded Julia Glushko of Israel in straight sets 6-3, 6-2,
in the semi-final clash.
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