Wickmayer continues dream run - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Wickmayer continues dream run

Belgian teenager Yanina Wickmayer reached her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final with a straight-sets victory over American Bethanie Mattek at the DFS Classic in 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.

Wickmayer's opponent in Sunday'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 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 on Sunday.

"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."

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