By IANS,
Pune : Top seeded Melanie South beat Ksenia Plakina of Krgystan 6-4, 6-4 to set up a title clash with eighth-seeded Jing Jing Lu of China who snapped the winning run of Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the $25,000 NECC-ITF here Friday.
In the doubles, second-seeded Chinese Taipei pair of Kai-Chen Chang and Hsuan Hwang edged past Romanian Elora Dabija and Serbian Bojana Jovanovski 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 to lift the title.
The 116th ranked British broke Palkina in the fourth game in the first set. In the second set South broke Palkina in the second game to race to a 3-0 lead. Palkina tried to claw her way back into the match but South was in control.
South, however, was broken in the ninth game but broke back immediately in the next game to win the match.
“I did not play my game today,” said a dejected Palkina, who won two $25,000 events this year.
Lu faced a stiff challenge from Bojana in the first set but managed a crucial break in the 12th game to win the set in 40 minutes .
In the second set, Lu got a decisive break against Bojana in the sixth game to enter her third $25,000 event final.
Results (Semi-finals):
(1) Melanie South (Gbr) bt (4) Ksenia Palkina (Kgz) 6-4, 6-4
(8) Jing Jing Lu (Chn) bt Bojana Jovanosvski (Srb) 7-5, 6-3