Leanne Baker has a shot at New Zealand tennis history after qualifying for tomorrow's final of the US$10,000 ($14,269) ASB International Futures tournament in Wellington.
Baker, 24 and with a world singles ranking of 521, today won her singles semifinal 6-2 6-4 over unseeded Korean, Ye-Ra Lee.
She will be
aiming for her third ITF Futures singles title and to become the first New Zealander to ever win a professional singles title on home soil.
New Zealanders have been beaten finalists on four occasions in the Wellington tournament's seven-year history.
Baker was actually using this event and next week's second futures event in Blenheim as match practice before competing in several WTA events in doubles, where her world ranking is 111.
However, the Waikato player showed that on a singles court she is still very competitive and has the game which can still win matches where others fail.
With all of the attention formerly on teenager Marina Erakovic before she lost her quarterfinal to Lee yesterday, seventh-seeded Baker slipped quietly through the draw.
She outplayed Lee from the start today, using changes of pace and an aggressive net game too.
"I think I played really well. I was able to be aggressive and attack and not let her create long rallies," Baker said.
"I'm really stoked to be in the final especially since these tournaments are really for me to get match play."
Baker now faces veteran Australian fourth seed Mirielle Dittmann, 30, in a replay of the final five years ago where Dittmann won in a third-set tie break.
"She (Dittman) is a tough player and she hits some quite unorthodox shots sometimes. I'll have to play well to win but I believe I can do it," Baker said.
In the other semifinal fourth seed and 2000 champion, Dittmann staged a massive comeback to beat top seed and 2003 winner and last year's runner-up Lauren Breadmore 0-6 6-4 6-3.
In the first set she made numerous unforced errors, however in the second and third her play became more reliable and Breadmore lost her cool and made the mistakes.
Dittmann will also be aiming for her third ITF singles title.
- NZPA
