ISTANBUL, Turkey - Youth trumped experience in the first semifinal of the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup on Saturday, as Marketa Vondrousova downed compatriot Barbora Strycova to reach her second final of the season, 6-2, 6-1.
The 19-year-old dominated the all-Czech clash in 86 minutes, breaking the veteran's serve six times and hitting 20 winners, and improved her head-to-head against against the 33-year-old to 3-0 without the loss of a set.
Strycova's first-serve percentage hovered at or under 50 percent for much of the match, affording Vondrousova an opportunity to assert herself in nearly every return game.
The teenager was quick off the mark in each set, breaking in the first game, and won a staggering 61 percent of the points played on return overall.
The veteran struggled to take it to her younger compatriot over the course of the match, as she connected on just eight winners to 31 unforced errors overall, though she did save three match points in a lengthy final game before succumbing to defeat.
Vondrousova will play for her second career title tomorrow in the Turkish city, having won the title at the Ladies' Open Biel Bienne two years ago, and has yet to lose a set this week.
She will face either No.6 seed Petra Martic or unseeded Russian Margarita Gasparyan.
More to come...
