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The 28-year-old Anastasija Sevastova is through to her sixth WTA final and the second of the season after a 32-minute match against the 8th seed Polona Hercog who was forced to retire after dropping the opening set 6-1. The top seed delivered her best tennis to dominate on both serve and return, never facing a break point and creating seven chances on the other side.
Hercog played with a big bandage on her thigh and she decided she has had enough after the opening set, getting broken in games one, five and seven to end her run in the semis. Six years after reaching the title match in Kuala Lumpur, Petra Martic is back into the WTA final following a 6-4 6-4 win over the local favorite Mihaela Buzarnescu in an hour and 44 minutes. This was their first meeting on clay after two previous clashes on grass and it was Martic who had the upper hand after losing serve only once and scoring three breaks from 10 chances to seal the deal in straight sets.
We saw three breaks in a row in the first half of the opening set, two for Martic who moved 4-2 ahead and closed the set on own serve in game 10 after a service winner, missing three set points on the return in the previous game.
The second set was closer and Petra grabbed it after a break in game nine, claiming eight of the last nine points to book her place in the final following another service winner. The Croatian had 13 winners and 14 unforced errors while Buzarnescu stood on 28 winners but also 34 errors that cost her the match. Semi-final results:
