HOBART, January 11, 2019

The Hobart International 2019 finals are set after a thrilling day of semi-final action on Friday.

In a day of upsets, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia shocked Swiss favourite Belinda Bencic 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2 and Sofia Kenin from the United States defeated 2016 champion Alize Cornet of France 6-2 6-4.

.@akschmiedlova books her place in the @HobartTennis final!

Gets the victory over Bencic 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-2! pic.twitter.com/GCtnNVSwt6

— WTA (@WTA) 11. Januar 2019

In the doubles the Chan sisters of Taipei defeated Niculescu / Yang 6-3 6-4, and Flipkens / Larsson defeated young duo Potapova / Yastremska 7-5 6-4.

The singles final will kick off at 1.00 pm AEDT on Saturday, with Kenin aiming to win her first WTA singles title, and Schmiedlova aiming to win her fourth career title. The doubles final will follow.

Quotes of the day

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova post match: “I still can’t believe it. I didn’t expect it at all, especially today against Belinda.”

Sofia Kenin post match: “I’ve beaten a lot of top players this past week, so I’m really happy with the way I’m playing.”

RESULTS – FRIDAY 11 JANUARY 2019

Main draw semifinals

S. Kenin (USA) d [6] A. Cornet (FRA) 62 64

A. Schmiedlova (SVK) d B. Bencic (SUI) 76(2) 46 62

Doubles semifinals

[1] H. Chan (TPE) / L. Chan (TPE) d [3] M. Niculescu (ROU) / Z. Yang (CHN) 63 64

[4] K. Flipkens (BEL) / J. Larsson (SWE) d A. Potapova (RUS) / D. Yastremska (UKR) 75 64