Teliana Pereira upsets Elina Svitolina to reach Claro Open final in Bogota
Sunday 19 April 2015 12:00, UK
Teliana Pereira upset top seed Elina Svitolina at the Claro Open in Bogota to become the first Brazilian to reach a WTA Tour final in nearly 27 years.
The unseeded Pereira never looked back after edging a first set tie-break, hitting back from 5-2 down to take it 9-7, before then sealing the decisive break in the eighth game of the following set to seal a 7-6 6-3 win over the Ukrainian.
The last time a Brazilian made the final of a WTA event was when Neige Dias won the Spanish Open in April 1988, a couple of months before Pereira was born.
"I feel great," Pereira said on the official WTA website. "Svitolina is a great player and it was a really tough match. I just tried to play my best and enjoy the moment - it was my third WTA semi-final and it was my best one.
"This is such a special day for me, for everybody, my family, my team - I don't know what to say, I'm just so happy about this result."
Her opponent in the showpiece event in the Colombian capital will be fifth seed Yaroslava Shvedova after the Kazakh ended the challenge of home favourite Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Duque-Marino had earlier beaten Julia Glushko 7-5 6-3 in a match that was finished on Saturday after it was halted due to darkness the day before.
