Perez/Sanders advance to Istanbul final
Aussie duo Ellen Perez and Storm Sanders continue their good form, reaching a WTA-level doubles final on clay in Turkey.
Istanbul, Turkey, 13 September 2020 | Leigh Rogers
Ellen Perez and Storm Sanders are into their first WTA-level final as a team.
The left-handed duo advanced to the Istanbul championship match with a 7-5 6-3 win over Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Ukrainian Katarina Zavatska overnight.
This is Perez and Sanders’ sixth tour-level tournament together this season and improves their win-loss record to 9-5. They have made the quarterfinals or better in four of these appearances.
Perez and Sanders, who are yet to drop a set this week, now play top seeds Alexa Guarachi of Chile and American Desirae Krawczyk for the title.
The 24-year-old Perez is hoping to win her second WTA doubles title, while 26-year-old Sanders is targeting a third.
Dubs final tomorrow 💥 @TennisChampIst @WTA @EllenPerez95 pic.twitter.com/cQ70h53zgR
— Storm Sanders (@stormsanders94) September 12, 2020
Three Australians scored opening-round qualifying wins at the Rome Masters overnight.
James Duckworth was leading 7-6(2) 4-0 when his No.86-ranked Japanese opponent Yasutaka Uchiyama retired. It marks a first tour-level win for the 28-year-old Duckworth since February.
Alexei Popyrin won an all-Australian battle against Luke Saville 6-3 7-6(6), while Marc Polmans defeated former world No.10 Ernests Gulbis 7-6(6) 6-1.
Russian Daria Kasatkina, another former world No.10, posted a 6-0 6-1 win against Arina Rodionova in women’s qualifying action.
Upcoming matches:
Men’s qualifying, second round
James Duckworth (AUS) v Facundo Bagnis (ARG)
Marc Polmans (AUS) v [11] Mikael Ymer (SWE)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [1] Tennys Sandgren (USA)
Men’s singles, first round
Alex de Minaur (AUS) v qualifier
John Millman (AUS) v qualifier
Women’s singles, first round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Marie Bouzkova (CZE)
Men’s doubles, first round
Alex de Minaur (AUS)/Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) v [1] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/Robert Farah (COL)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) v [7] Raven Klaasen (RSA)/Oliver Marach (AUT)
John Peers (AUS)/Michael Venus (NZL) v Jamie Murray (GBR)/Neal Skupski (GBR)