MOSCOW - Teenagers Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Anastasia Potapova of Russia reached their first career WTA final at the Moscow River Cup on Saturday.
Both aged 17 and unseeded, they were taken the distance in the semifinals on clay.
Danilovic defeated fifth-seeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 after more than two hours.
Danilovic led 5-2 in the third set and served for the match twice, and was broken twice as Sasnovich came back to 5-5. But Danilovic broke again and finally served out.
She lost in the first round of qualifying but made the main draw as a lucky loser, and proceeded to knock out top-seeded Julia Georges in the quarterfinals and set up an all-teenage final.
She faces Anastasia Potapova of Russia, who beat Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 3-6, 6-4, 5-2.
Zidansek retired nearly two hours in because of a gastrointestinal illness. Zidansk took a medical timeout after the first set, when her blood pressure was checked. She was noticeably less energetic, and had another medical timeout after three games of the second set. But she fought on and finally quit when the result became inevitable.
Potapova, the 2016 Wimbledon junior champion, was rapt.
“I can’t hold in my emotions any longer,” Potapova said. “It’s my dream to play a final at home before my fans, I’m so happy.”
