Gavrilova storms into New Haven final

Melbourne & Olympic Parks, Olympic Blvd, Melbourne VIC • 3001, Australia, 26 August 2017 | AAP

Daria Gavrilova has upset top-seeded titleholder Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets to surge into the Connecticut Open final.

In a huge US Open morale booster, Gavrilova outclassed the former world No.2 and Wimbledon finalist 6-4 6-4 to set up a title showdown with 2016 season-ending championship winner Dominika Cibulkova.

Gavrilova is chasing her maiden WTA Tour title after losing the final in Strasbourg in May to fellow Australian Samantha Stosur.

The 23-year-old will be brimming with confidence after guaranteeing herself a big rankings rise after holding her nerve to end Radwanska’s six-match winning streak in New Haven.

Serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, Gavrilova saved a break point with her second ace before closing out the contest in one hour and 33 minutes.

Gavrilova is projected to climb to No.22 in the world – and will crack the top 20 for the first time if she beats Cibulkova, the Slovakian former Australian Open runner-up who progressed to the final with a 6-1 6-3 win over Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens.

In the doubles, Ash Barty and Casey Dellacqua were equally impressive as they downed Elise Mertens and Kristyna Pliskova 6-2 6-1 to book a final match-up against Dabrowski and Xu.