Yulia Putintseva upsets Olga Savchuk to reach the final – Siberia Cup 2011
Third seed Yulia Putintseva shocked top seeded Ukrainian, Olga Savchuk, in straight sets at the Tyumen ITF Women’s Circuit event taking place in Tyumen, Russia. She quickly manipulated a 6-3, 6-4 success over the highest ranked
player of the tournament to advance into the title-round on Thursday.
With the held from home crowd, the 16-year-old Putintseva stayed on course to lift her fourth year-to-date title after stunning the top seed, ranked 195th in the WTA Premier Rankings, in their first encounter.
The Russian teenager high spiritedly stepped on the courts and quickly swept out the opening three games to go 3-0 up. Later she held remaining serves by hitting the balls perfectly onto the lines and triumph the opener with a
6-3 score. Putintseva dusted away all breakpoints she came across and cashed in one out of three break opportunities.
The third seed maintained her intensity in the final set and drew the first blood in the opening game. She lost her edge in the fourth game but broke Savchuk’s serve again in the final game, sealing the victory by winning six games
to three. The Russian fended off two out of three breakpoints she came across and converted three out of five break chances to her advantage.
Putintseva will next confront fourth seed Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian made an epic comeback from a set down to overpower the Belarusian, Polina Pekhova, in a three set thriller to reach this spot.
Svitolina, who is enjoying her career best rank at number 232, took almost two and a half hour to overwhelm resilience posed by the Belarusian. She quickly made on-roads in the opening set as the Ukrainian broke Pekhova’s serve
twice to clinch the opening set at 6-2.
The frustrated Belarusian got back on track in the second set as she managed to hold on entire serves after displayed exceptional defensive skills. In the end, Pekhova capitalised on one out of four break opportunities and claimed
the equaliser with a 7-5 success.
The higher ranked Svitolina carried her losing ways in the final set and gifted away her serve in the opening game. However, she bounced back with a fitting reply as the Ukrainian not only recovered in the proceeding game but broke
again in the eighth game, eventually pocketing the decider with a 6-3 win.
Svitolina made a semi-final berth at Ankara ITF event last week before entering this tournament. She also lifted her maiden career title in October at the Lagos ITF event and advanced into the final with conviction.
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