World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki reached her fifth final of the year on Saturday with a grueling 7-5, 6-3 win over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals of the Stuttgart clay-court tournament.
In the final, the 20-year-old Dane will face Julia Goerges, the first German woman to make the Stuttgart trophy match in 15 years.
“Agnieszka is a good player, she’s very sneaky and knows how to run her opponent around,” said Wozniacki, who took 65 minutes to clinch the first set against the 14th-ranked Pole.
Photo: AFP
Wozniacki said she is looking forward to playing crowd-favorite Goerges.
“I have played Julia before,” the Dane said. “I know she’s a good player and has been hitting some good shots. It will help her to have the crowd behind her, but I am looking forward to the final.”
Goerges, 22, beat Australian fifth seed Samantha Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
“It is unbelievable to have beaten a player like Stosur and in front of a home crowd. I’m just too happy for words, “ said Goerges, ranked 32nd in the world. “It was one of my best matches ever, I played right to my limits.”
It is only the third time Goerges has reached a WTA final and she is the first German to reach the Stuttgart final since Anke Huber in 1996.
“I have nothing to lose now in the final,” she said. “Having the crowd behind me will, of course, be a big plus.”
Stosur, who reached the French Open final last year, said she was disappointed, but happy to have reached the last four this year.
“I definitely felt like I was back in the match. When it came down to it, she was probably a bit more aggressive than me,” the 27-year-old said. “At crucial times she managed to get herself ahead. I am obviously disappointed to have lost the match, but it is encouraging to have come here and played well.”
GRAND PRIX SAR
AFP, FES, MOROCCO
Romanian seventh seed Simona Halep booked a final meeting with Italian Alberta Brianti at the WTA tournament in Fes on Saturday after seeing off Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-4 in her semi-final.
Brianti made the trophy match following a walkover victory over former world No. 1 Dinara Safina.
Halep, 19 and ranked 65 in the world, will appear in only her second career final, having lost last year’s showdown in Fes against Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.
Ironically it was Safina who stopped Brianti’s run in what was her first ever WTA tour semi-final appearance, at Portoroz in 2009. This time it wasn’t the Russian’s back that caused her trouble, but an upset stomach.
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