Angie into all-Asian final match in Pattaya

Angie into all-Asian final match in Pattaya

Agence France-Presse, Pattaya, Thailand

Indonesia's Angelique "Angie" Widjaja set up an all-Asian final
with South Korean Cho Yoon-jeong with an upset win over Russian
Tatiana Panova here Saturday.

The up and coming teenager beat the Russian top seed 2-6, 6-1,
6-3 in their semi-final clash, while Cho defeated another
Russian, Lina Krasnoroutskaya, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Angelique played a tentative first set, breaking Panova in the
fourth game but dropping her own opening three service games.

The 17-year-old Indonesian also lost her serve again as the
second set got underway, but Panova double-faulted to allow
Angelique to level at 1-1.

Panova, who complained of struggling with the heat in Friday's
quarterfinal, began to look tired, and a more aggressive Widjaja
swept the next five games to take the set.

In the final set, Angelique broke to lead 3-2 and 5-2, but
then conceded her own serve before eventually closing out the
match on her fifth match point.

"In the first set I was a little bit rushed because I wasn't
sure how to play her," said the up-and-coming Indonesian star,
who will bid to win her second career title after claiming
victory in Bali last year.

"I made so many unforced errors in the first set. I hit the
ball short and made it easy for her.

"In the second set I played more consistently. My first serve
wasn't like in the first days of the tournament, but I was very
confident with my groundstrokes. I used my slice also, and I
don't think she liked that."

Cho became the first Korean ever to reach a WTA Tour final
when she defeated her erratic Russian opponent.

Although Krasnoroutskaya had the weapons to dominate with her
strong serve and big forehand, she made far too many unforced
errors against the more consistent Cho.

Five consecutive service breaks left Cho serving for the first
set at 5-4, and both players also battled to hold at the
beginning of the second set as the first four games went against
serve.

Krasnoroutskaya also held five break points before Cho held to
lead 3-2.

Games then continued to go with serve until Cho broke to lead
6-5, but she dropped her own serve in the next game before
dominating the tiebreak.

"I don't know why, but today I didn't feel tense," she said.

"I felt very comfortable on the court from the beginning. My
forehand was very good today, and my return. Lina is a hard
hitter and it's very difficult to tell where she is going to hit
her forehand, but fortunately she made more mistakes than me."