India’s Riya Bhatia reached the final of the $15,000 ITF women’s circuit tournament in Curtea de Arges, Romania with a win over Germany’s Katharina Hering on Saturday. The 19-year-old defeated Hering in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 33 minutes.
Bhatia took a quick lead in the match, going up 3-0 in the first set, but was broken by Hering in the fourth game. A break back on Hering’s serve helped the fourth seed brace herself again. Bhatia then went on to take the first set in the eighth game.
In the second set, it was Hering’s turn to take a similar 3-0 lead, but Bhatia broke back to level the set at three-all. A second break of Hering’s serve in the seventh game of the set saw the Indian take the lead for the first time in the set. Bhatia saved a handful of break points on her own serve while trying to consolidate the break in the eighth game, which she eventually did. One last break of Hering’s serve in the ninth game sealed the win in Bhatia’s favour at the end.
Bhatia had a first serve percentage of 63% and converted 67% points off her first serves. Her second serve percentage hovered in the high seventies, at 77% and she won 50% points off her second serves. In comparison, her opponent put in 55% of her first serves and won 56% points off them. With regard to her second serves, the German put in 93% of her second serves, but could only win 33% points off them. For the match, Bhatia converted six of the 12 break points she had on Hering’s serve, while saving six of the eighth break points she faced on her serve.
In the final on Sunday, Bhatia will face Romanian eighth seed Georgia Andreea Craciun. Andreea Craciun had defeated compatriot, and fifth seed, Miriam Bianca Bulgaru in their Saturday’s semi-final 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.