Safina reaches final
2008-05-10 17:41
Berlin - Having claimed the scalps of Justine Henin and Serena Williams on route, Dinara Safina booked her place in the German Open final with a straight sets win over teenager Victoria Azarenka on Saturday.
After beating world number one Henin on Thursday and Williams on Friday, Safina's week continues to go from strength to strength as she claimed a 6-4 6-1 win over 18-year-old Azarenka, who struggled with injury in the second set.
Having virtually dominated the first set, Azarenka, who knocked out seeds Anna Chadvetadze and Alona Bondarenko on the way to the semi-final, looked very strong early on with some superb shots to the base-line.
But her game fell apart in the second set as her frustration got the better of her.
After smashing her racquet on the ground and briefly letting the tears flow, Azarenka started limping heavily and was barely able to complete the match to allow Safina to wrap up victory.
Safina, seeded 13th, will now play Ana Ivanovic or Elena Dementieva in Sunday's final, praised the teenager who will break into the WTA top 20 rankings next week after her performance in Berlin.
"She really played well and there was plenty of pressure from her returns," said Safina.
"I hung in there, she was cramping up in the second set which was unlucky for her."
Earlier, defending champion Ivanovic made it to the semi-finals when she beat tenth seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay.
After their quarter-final was halted on Friday night due to the falling darkness with both players having taken a set, Ivanovic took the third set to claim a 3-6 6-4 6-3 win.
- AFP