Brisbane, Jan. 5 (IANS): Ukrainian tennis player Lesia Tsurenko on Saturday saw off Japan's Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in the Brisbane International semifinal, earning a place in her biggest career final.
It took Tsurenko one hour and five minutes to defeat Osaka, the second seed, securing a top-25 spot in the WTA rankings - to be issued on Monday - the highest of her career so far.
"I was just focused on every point and thinking about every shot like it's the most important one. I don't want to say that this was my best tennis, but it was quite a high level," Tsurenko said.
The Ukrainian player broke her opponent's serve twice in the first set, which she sealed in 28 minutes on the second set point she had, reports Efe news.
Tsurenko stormed into a 2-0 lead in the second set and maintained the advantage despite facing a couple of break points.
Osaka saved two match points at 3-5, but she eventually lost in the following game when Tsurenko seized on the fourth match point.
Next up for Tsurenko, who won a title in each of the last four years, will be either fifth seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic or Donna Vekiæ of Croatia.
