Linette and Zidanšek will play in the WTA Croatia Bol Open final on Sunday.
Around five hundred spectators backed Tena Lukas in her first semi-final appearance of a WTA tournament of this ranking, but despite the real sports atmosphere, Lukas failed to place in the WTA Croatia Bol Open final.
It was a fight between two styles of play, with Tena attacking one side and defending against the counter hits of the Slovenian tennis player on the other. In the end, Slovenian Tamara Zidanšek was better and won 6:4, 6:3. Tena opened the match very well and lead 3:0 in the first set, but Zidanšek had a cure for her game and came back to control the match until the end.
"Today I did not really have any solutions. My coach entered the court twice. I did not know what to do. She hit the counter to all of my attempts, hit every ball in and I did not know how to proceed. Simply, Tamara was better today,” Lukas confessed.
Though she was trying to play more aggressive today, she was unable to achieve what she had in the previous days of the tournament, and her mistakes were judged. At the WTA Croatia Bol Open, Tena came as the 318th player in the world, and from tomorrow, she will be ranked 262nd.
"I hope I will not stay there, I need to move to at least 199," Tena said with a smile on her face. The Kaštela player is determined to do so because she is already traveling to her next tournament on Monday, followed by two weeks of training and qualifying tournaments for the US Open. Grand Slam tournament qualifications are her goal for this season.
The match was even followed by Croatia representative and winner of the Roland Garros mixed doubles - Ivan Dodig.
"Tena has definitely progressed, and this is a different level of her game compared to a few years ago. It will take a lot of work, but she is on the right track,” Dodig said.
In the final of Bol, Magda Linette of Poland will play against today's winner, Slovenian Tamara Zidanšek. The game begins at 18:00 on Sunday.
