Saturday 10th February

by Barry Wood

The final of the Pattaya Open is set, with unseeded Austrian Sybille Bammer to play sixth seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina. Bammer upset fourth seed Shuai Peng of China 6-4 6-2, while Dulko overcame India's Sania Mirza, seeded five, 6-4 7-5.

It's strange how Thailand should provide such a successful venue for Bammer, who is the rarest of the rare on the tour, a mother. Her daughter Tina is five, and wished her mother good luck in a pre-match telephone call. Last year, Bammer reached the semi-finals in Pattaya and the quarters in Bangkok, two of the best results of her career. Until now, when she'll bid for her first title.

Peng has been suffering from a cold, and that is perhaps why she was not as aggressive as she needed to be from the baseline, and why after losing serve once to drop the first set she managed to salvage just six points in the final five games of the second. "I'm happy to reach my first final," said Bammer. "I knew she was a good player and I expected a tough match, but I felt good on court today and played my game and made her run."

Dulko has been in one previous final, in Hobart in 2005, but she lost that so she also will be chasing her first title. Her match with Mirza was as close as two sets can get, with both players earning plenty of break points.

The first game alone lasted 12 minutes, 11 deuces and six break points, all of which Dulko lost. The Argentine did eventually break for 4-3, dropped her own serve in the next game, but then she broke again for 5-4.

Mirza made the better start to the second set and led 2-0, but Dulko pulled back to 2-2. With the set equally balanced, it was Dulko who then broke in a 20-point game at 5-5 when Mirza double-faulted and then netted a forehand.

"I knew it was going to be a really tough match," said Dulko. "She's a great player so I was very focused from the first point. It was a tough match and every game was close, a lot of advantage for her and a lot of advantage for me. You had to be there all the time 100 percent of the time, and I think I was there and that was the difference. "I feel good and I'll enjoy the final and try to play my best. I'm really happy to be in a final again after a long time."