Chan and Kudermetova roll past Cocciaretto and Samsanova to reach China Open final

Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova won 6-3, 6-4, against Alisabetta Cocciaretto and Liudmila Samsanova to reach the China Open final. It was the duo’s third straight semifinal and will mark their fourth final of the year.

The first set was fast-paced and ended in just 35 minutes. The chemistry between Chan and Kudermetova was a big advantage over Cocciaretto and Samsanova, who were playing in their first WTA Tour tournament together. Cocciaretto and Samsonova were able to break their opponents’ serve in the third game, but that was the only time they did so during the set. Chan and Kudermetova went on to win the set by winning five of the next six games, including one break of each of their opponents.

Cocciaretto and Samsonova’s aggressive strategy of frequently pushing up to the net proved ineffective, as Chan was able to lob shots over them and Kudermetova powered shots past. Again, Cocciaretto and Samsonova mustered one break of their opponents’ serve in the second set, but it was not enough. Kudermetova held all six of her service games, the only player to do so in the match. Her serve was a huge weapon for the pair, as she also had a match-high three aces, two coming in the second set. With the set at 5-4, Chan and Kudermetova won the final point to take the match.

Chan and Kudermetova have been competing as a team since April. Chan is ranked World No. 17 in doubles and Kudermetova is World No. 23. Their career high rankings were World No. 5 and World No. 2, respectively. The pair will try to notch their second tournament title of the season against Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini on Sunday.