Melbourne, 3 December 2011 | tennis.com.au

Andrew Whittington will take on Saville in the boys’ Optus 18s Australian Championships final following his 6-3 7-6(5) victory over unseeded New South Welshman Chris O’Connell.

Whittington took the first set thanks to some clean forehand winners and handy work at the net, but O’Connell fought back in the second, forcing a tiebreaker.

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After racing out to a quick 3-0 lead, Whittington looked all but home, but O’Connell reeled in the deficit.

“It was really tight out there and I just stuck to my game plan – coming to the net and hitting big serves – and I’m happy with the win,” said Whittington after the match.

The 18-year-old from Victoria will now prepare to play top seed Saville in Sunday’s final, but he’s treating it like any other match.

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“It’s [just] another match tomorrow. Luke’s a good mate of mine and tomorrow’s another day … I’ll go out there and fight for everything and I’m sure he’ll do the same.”

In the second girls’ Optus 18s Australian Championships semifinal, second-seeded West Australian Storm Sanders was too strong for fifth seed Viktorija Rajicic, defeating her 6-2 7-5 in one hour and 11 minutes.

Sanders will face top seed Ash Barty who took just 47 minutes to dispose of third seed Azra Hadzic 6-3 6-2 earlier today.

> Optus 18s Australian Championships scores

In the girls’ doubles final, fourth seeds Ash Barty and Lyann Hoang upstaged top seeds Ebony Panoho and Rachel Tredoux 6-2 6-2 in 48 minutes.

The boys’ doubles final was won by Rhys Johnson and Darren Polkinghorne who defeated Jay Andrijic and Joey Swaysland 7-5 7-5 in a tight affair.

And in the Optus 14s Australian Championships semifinals, top seed Marc Polmans easily accounted for fourth seed William Matheson 6-2 6-3. He’ll take on third-seeded New Zealender Kyle Butters who fought back from a set down to defeat sixth-seeded Jack Lyttle 4-6 6-4 6-1.

In the girls’ semis, No.1 seed Sara Tomic continued her good form with a 6-2 6-2 victory over fitth-seeded Queenslander Lizette Cabrera. Tomic will play second seed Priscilla Hon in the final after Hon outclassed Destanee Aiava in straight sets, 6-3 6-0.