Veterans Tamarine and Date to meet again in final

Tamarine, 34, and the former world No 4 Date Krumm, 41, had met in a WTA tournament in Osaka in October 2010, making it the oldest final with a combined age of 73. The Thai outlasted Date Krumm 7-5 6-7 6-1 for her fourth WTA trophy in that match.

Yesterday the fifth-seeded Tamarine had to overcome a stiff challenge from Taiwanese opponent Chan Yung-jan 1-6 6-2 6-4 in the semi-final, while the top seed Japanese got a walkover from Dutchwoman Michella Krajicek, who has a knee injury.

“She played some amazing tennis in the first set. She served well and hit winners all over while I made plenty of mistakes. Then I cut down my errors in the second and tried to move her side to side. In the final set, I was 2-0 and 40-0 but I lost my concentration. She got back into the match but luckily I broke her in the last game to win the match,” said the 121 ranked Tamarine who also beat the Taiwanese in Fukuoka this year.

A win over Date Krumm will take her ranking closer to the top 100 which will guarantee her a berth in the Australian Open main draw in January.

“She has been playing well and we used to have tough matches together. I need to rest to get ready for the match,” said Tamarine.

About the new record, she said: “There’s nothing special about that as we are getting older and if we meet again, it will be rewritten. I hope to play for two more years but I have no idea about Date.”

 

Bhupathi, Paes make semis

Indian doubles duo Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes booked their place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with a shock 6-4 6-2 win over top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan.

Bhupathi and Paes, who are ending their partnership after this tournament, knew only a victory over the world’s top doubles pairing would be enough to guarantee their last four spot and they rose to the occasion in impressive fashion at London’s O2 Arena.

An early break in the first set boosted the Indians’ belief they could defeat the American duo, who were already certain of making the semi-finals.

Bhupathi and Paes, who also beat the Bryans when they last met in Cincinnati earlier this year, were able to hold onto their advantage to take the first set.

The Bryan brothers have won this event three times and have just finished top of the doubles rankings for a record seventh time in nine years.