Belgian teenager Wickmayer eases into DFS Classic final at Birmingham

The 18-year-old, who has high hopes of filling the void created by the retirement of former world number ones Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, crowned a remarkable debut at Edgbaston with a 7-5 7-6 (7-2) semi-final success..

No waffle: Belgian babe Yanina Wickmayer won is straight sets

Wickmayer's opponent in tomorrow's final will be 12th seed Kateryna Bondarenko, who beat Marina Erakovic 6-3 6-2 to avenge her sister Alona's quarter-final defeat by the Croatia-born New Zealander.  

Wickmayer, who is on her own in the Midlands after her father returned home due to illness, has surged more than 300 places in the world rankings in the last 12 months and will break into the top 60 if she is successful tomorrow.  

"It's my first final and I'm really excited," she said. "I'm going to go out there and have some fun. It's been an amazing week. I'm one of the youngest players here."

Wickmayer raced into a 5-1 lead before 23-year-old Mattek rallied, breaking her opponent to love in the eighth game, and got the score back to 5-5 with a second break.  

The young Belgian, who spent three years in America honing her tennis skills, regained the upper hand to take the first set but trailed 4-1 in the second before reeling off three games in a row to draw level.  

When the Belgian broke again, she served for the match only for the battling Mattek to force a tie-break.  

But the American could not recover from slipping 4-0 behind in the breaker and it was all over after one hour and 49 minutes.  

Wickmayer winner: Yanina reaches her first ATP Tour final

"She came out on fire but I definitely had my chances," said Mattek. "I just wasn't clean enough on the points I needed." 

Wickmayer will finalise her preparations for Wimbledon by taking part in the Ordina Open in the Netherlands next week and threatens to be a dark horse at the All England Club.  

"She can be really good," said Mattek. "Obviously she is young. It comes down to how mentally tough she is."  

Wickmayer, whose part-time coach has stayed behind in Belgium, will be reunited with her father in Holland but claims she has thrived on her independence.  

"It's been an opportunity this week to open my eyes and I've learned a lot," she said. "It's been a really good experience." .