Teen prodigy Mirra Andreeva will look to add to her growing record when she faces superstar-in-waiting Victoria Mboko in the Adelaide International women's final.
Andreeva, the No.3 seed at the WTA 500 tournament, defeated Diana Shnaider 6-3 6-2, after Victoria Mboko ended Kimberly Birrell's stirring run at her home event.
No.3 seed Andreeva came out tentative and was broken early before overcoming those issues to rattle off five straight games - including three breaks - to take the first set.
The 18-year-old's consistency all over the court proved too much for Shnaider, who racked up 37 unforced errors.
"I was nervous before the match," said Andreeva, who teamed with Shnaider to claim silver in doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympics. "I felt like she took advantage of that.
"She was playing free, she was playing aggressive, she was going for her shots. Obviously, when I was a little bit passive, things went her way.
"But then after I was like, 'Well, if she's free, if she's not nervous, then I have to raise my level up', because like this I'm not going to win."
Andreeva succeeded in not only getting the match on her terms, but winning the battle of the mind in the unique situation of playing against her doubles partner and close friend.
"Throughout the whole match I was trying to think ... 'She's not my friend, I don't know who she is, she's just a stranger, I have no idea who I'm playing against," Andreeva said.
"I was just focusing on the ball that was coming from the other side."
Earlier, superstar-in-waiting Mboko charged imperiously into the final as she outclassed Birrell 6-2 6-1 to march into her third WTA final.
The 19-year-old Canadian, set to be seeded 17th at next week's Australian Open, peeled off nine straight games from an early 2-all scoreline to blow the Queensland wildcard away
The eighth-seeded Mboko, who 24 hours earlier knocked out reigning Adelaide and AO champion Madison Keys, was particularly devastating on serve.
She crushed eight aces and barely gave Birrell a look at a second offering, effectively blanketing the Aussie's returning strengths.
"Today I feel like it (serving) was feeling a lot better than a lot of the other matches," said Mboko, who is drawn to potentially face world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
"I feel like sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn't. I felt like on my serve I really had to find my targets, and luckily I did today. It felt pretty good."
The 59-minute masterclass was easily Mboko's most dominant display since arriving Down Under.
Including the United Cup, all five matches Mboko had previously played had gone the distance.
"It's nice to get my first win in straight sets today, knowing that I played a lot of three-setters," she said.
"You're playing really great players. I'm always going to have to find my groove and find my rhythm.
"So if it takes me winning in three sets, it's going to take me however long, as long as the job gets done."
While outmatched, Birrell remained upbeat, with her ranking set to soar from No.107 into the 70s after her best-ever showing at a WTA 500 event.
"I think it's just so important to start the year on a positive note," she said. "I think that I'm really just proud of my attitude.
"Obviously today was a tough one. I think she played very well."
Machac moves into men’s decider
In the men's draw, Tomas Machac overcame a frustrating, error-strewn start to advance to his third ATP final with a rollercoaster 2-6 6-3 6-3 win over No.2 seed Tommy Paul.
The eighth seed transformed a ratio of nine winners and 20 unforced errors in the first set into 16 and nine in the second.
While Paul grappled with a lower-back issue in the deciding set, Machac's mercurial shotmaking was ultimately the difference, the Czech fitting sealing a berth in the final with a stunning forehand winner from way out wide.
"It was a very difficult match today because I wasn't feeling well from the first set," Machac said.
"Then I found my game, found my rhythm, and then I was playing great tennis."