MELBOURNE, Australia — Arina Rodionova's wedding day started with a bonus Saturday — a semifinal win in the Australian Open wildcard qualifying tournament.
The Russian-born Australian beat Storm Sanders 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a morning match to advance to Sunday's final.
But first, the 26-year-old who celebrated her birthday on Tuesday will marry Australian Rules football player Ty Vickery on Saturday afternoon.
Vickery was absent from Rodionova's semifinal, telling family and friends that as per tradition, he shouldn't see his future bride until the wedding service.
The semifinal was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but with some help from organizers and agreement from Sanders, it was moved up.