Arabnews24.ca:Saturday 4 February 2023 12:11 PM: Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine reached her first final in four years after the top-seeded Bianca Andreescu retired with a shoulder injury during their semifinal match at the Thailand Open on Saturday.
Tsurenko, in search of her fifth WTA title, was leading the 2019 U.S. Open champion 7-5, 4-0 when the Canadian stopped playing. Andreescu entered the match having not lost a set this week.
The former world No. 23 fought from 3-5 down to take the first set and reeled off eight straight games before Andreescu retired with a right shoulder problem.
"Bianca is such an amazing player. She is capable of hitting all kinds of shots and gave so much trouble today," Tsurenko, now ranked 136th, said from Hua Hin. "But I was just fighting, and I told myself positive things that I can do it. Unfortunately, she had to retire."
Andreescu advanced to the semifinal with a 6-0, 7-6 (3) win over Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine on Friday.
WATCH | Injured Andreescu leaves Thailand Open in semifinal:
Andreescu forced to retire from Thailand Open semifinals with injury
Duration 2:41
The Mississauga, Ont., native was looking for her first tournament win since the 2019 U.S. Open, as well as high-level events in Toronto and Indian Wells, Calif.
Tsurenko last lifted a WTA trophy in Acapulco in 2018 and hasn't been to a final since Brisbane in 2019.
She will face Zhu Lin of China in the final on Sunday.
"She had some good wins in the Australian Open," Tsurenko said. "She is one of the dangerous players in this tournament. She is going to give a good fight."
In the all-Chinese semifinal earlier, Zhu benefited from a barrage of unforced errors from Wang Xinyu and prevailed 6-2, 6-4 for her first WTA final.
The world No. 54 player, who reached the last 16 at the Australian Open in January, relied on her solid baseline game to force errors.
"It was very windy, so I tried to be patient and keep my first serves in," said the 29-year-old Zhu, who will team up with Wang in Sunday's doubles final against Hao-Ching Chan and Fang-Hsien Wu of Taiwan.
WATCH | Andreescu ousts Kostyuk on Friday:
Fast start sends Andreescu into Thailand Open semifinals
Duration 2:40
