6 Jan 2019

Kiwi in the mix on finals day

by ASB Classic
Kiwi in the mix on finals day

Kiwi Paige Hourigan and her partner Taylor Townsend are through to the doubles final of the ASB Classic. The newly formed pair looked at home on centre court surrounded by Kiwi tennis fans cheering them on. Hourigan and Townsend beat 2nd seeds Kirsten Flipkins and Johanna Larsson 6-3, 7-5.  

Hourigan said she wait to get back out there in front of the packed stadium for tomorrow’s doubles final!

In the final, the Kiwi American combo will take one Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard and her partner Sofia Kenin who fought hard to get past experienced duo Darija Jurak and Xinyun Han. Bouchard is a former top 5 singles player, a Wimbledon finalist and is climbing her way back up the rankings since those feats in 2014. Her partner Kenin is also a star on the rise, started 2018 outside the top 100 and is now comfortably sitting at 52.

The North American pair will be the favourites but with the home crowd support firmly on Hourigan’s side, this match could go to the wire!

In the singles, defending Champion Julia Goerges is only one win away from defending her ASB classic title, the German powerhouse dominated the first set of her semi-final against the talented 20-year old Viktoria Kuzmova, despite the youngster coming back in the second set, the world number 14 was too strong, winning 6-1, 7-6.

To win the final though, Goerges will need to do something Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams couldn’t do this week, beat 18-year old Canadian Bianca Andreescu. The kid from Toronto has had a dream run at the ASB Classic and doesn’t look to be slowing down.

Matches will start at 5pm.

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