Australia's Kimberly Birrell remains upbeat despite a drubbing from on-song Canadian Victoria Mboko in their Adelaide International semi-final.
Mboko, the world No.17 who started last year ranked outside the top 300, won 6-2 6-1 on Friday to be in sight of her third WTA title.
The powerful 19-year-old resoundingly outplayed Birrell - after scores were locked at 2-2 in the opening set, the Australian won only one more game.
Mboko, the Adelaide tournament's eighth seed, meets third seed Mirra Andreeva in Saturday's final after she outclassed fellow Russian Diana Shnaider 6-3 6-2 in their semi.
"I feel pretty good - first final of the year, it's nice to get some matches in before the Australian Open," Mboko said.
"I have played a lot and had a long time on court this week. Having that many hours on court can help you."
Mboko took just 59 minutes to sweep aside Australia's Birrell, who won a Thursday quarter-final that lasted more than three hours.
"Today was a tough one; she played very well though," Birrell said.
"Even though the score was quite one-sided, there were still some high-level points."
But the world No.107 took great heart from her tournament ahead of the Australian Open starting on Sunday in Melbourne.
"Going into next week, I still feel good, I still feel quite confident," Birrell said.
"It's just so important to start the year on a positive note.
"I'm proud of my attitude and glad my body has held up really well. I think that's huge - especially after a long match yesterday.
"I'm so stoked with that. It just goes to show how much I put into my pre-season, and that work is really paying off now.
"So lots of positives to take into next week."
