The Swiss player is chasing her third title on the WTA Tour and her first since she secured victory at the Canadian Open in August a year ago, but she faces a tough test against the experienced Vinci, who reached the final of the US Open in 2015.
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“I made a lot of mistakes”.
Bencic came under pressure from Kasatkina but secured a win that ensures she will debut in the WTA top 10 Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final. “The crowd was awesome, thank you so much”.
In the decider, Bencic was in complete command, breaking her rival s serve twice to take the match.
“I had to stay focused on every single point, but I think I served really well today and that was probably the key”.
The second-seeded Vinci meets fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic in the semi-finals after the Serb beat Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Kozlova 6-1, 7-5.
Bencic’s win sets up a semifinal against a fellow 18-year-old in Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, who overcame the tenacious Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
In the second, Babos, ranked 51st, broke early to level at one set all after one hour 40 minutes on court. The Italian broke Babos when the latter was serving for the match in the deciding set, and bounced back from 4-2 down in the tiebreak to win 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (4).
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The world’s number one pair of Swiss Hingis and India’s Mirza dropped just one set in four matches at Saint Petersburg. “Especially at the beginning, I was so tight, so nervous”, Vinci said in televised comments.
