Thailand Open: Shnaider beats Wang to reach final

Diana Shnaider beat Xinyu Wang 6-2, 7-6 (5) to reach the final of the Thailand Open at the True Arena Hua Hin.

Shnaider cruised through the opening set before being made to work hard in the second, with Wang pushing her lower-ranked opponent into a tiebreak.

The Russian showed the greater composure in that breaker, however, to move through to just the second tour-level final of her career in straight sets.

The 19-year-old has been in excellent form in Huan Hin, taking down Paula Badosa – who was forced to retire with injury in the second set – as well as beating top seed Magda Linette and dangerous qualifier Dalma Galfi.

She will have the opportunity to clinch her first WTA-level title on Sunday where she will play the winner of the match between Yafan Wang and second seed Lin Zhu next.

Wang, ranked No 40, won against American Emina Bektas (5-2 ret.), Japanese Nao Hibino (7-5, 6-4) and Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, the No 7 seed (6-1, 3-6, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Hua Hin tournament.

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Hua Hin WTA 250, other semi-final result (True Arena Hua Hin, hard, USD 267.082):

• Yafan Wang vs. Lin Zhu