Routliffe reaches second WTA doubles final

New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe has won through to her second WTA doubles final. Routliffe and her Belgian partner Kimberley Zimmermann have beaten Alexandra Panova and Julia Wachaczyk in straight sets at the WTA tournament in Palermo in Italy.

Routliffe and Zimmermann have won 6-2 6-4 in one hour 12. They will have tonight off and await the winner of the second semi-final.

Routliffe is ranked 132 and Zimmerman 140 in doubles but by making the final they are projected to climb to around 116 and 126 respectively. A win tomorrow night would see Routliffe move to just a few places outside the top 100.

Meanwhile it has been a disappointing day for Ajeet Rai at his latest ITF tournament in Monastir in Tunisia, losing in both singles and doubles.

Rai has lost a marathon singles quarter final in 3 hours 24 to Mattia Bellucci, 6-7 (1) 6-4 7-6 (3). Rai and Jeremy Beale then lost their doubles semi final 6-4 7-6 (4) in 1 hour 15 to Abedallah Shelbayh and Pedro Vives Marcos.