Stosur to face Wozniacki in Kremlin Cup final

MOSCOW (AFP) –

Australian Samantha Stosur returns a ball to Serbian Ana Ivanovic during the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament semifinal match in Moscow. Stosur won 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Top seed Samantha Stosur of Australia battled back from a set down to beat fourth seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia on her way into the final of the Kremlin Cup tournament here on Saturday.

Stosur, ranked ninth, won through 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and will next face former world number one and third seed Caroline Wozniacki, who also needed three sets to get past Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4.

Former French Open champion Ivanovic, 24, was in complete command in the opening set playing aggressive tennis to produce three breaks for a 1-0 lead, as 28-year-old Stosur struggled with her serve.

No big serves emerged in the second set before the eighth game when 2011 US Open champion Stosur broke to level at one set-all.

In the deciding set Stosur broke again in the fifth game. Ivanovic took a time out to receive treatment for a right hip problem but she failed to recover completely allowing Stosur to bag another break to enter her season’s second final.

“In the first set Ana (Ivanovic) was playing quite well making good first shots in the rally which forced me to play defensively,” Stosur said.

“But in the second set I started serving a lot better and played much more accurate on return. I improved my movement and started playing more offensively and with that I managed to turn things around and win the match.”

Earlier Arvidsson, playing her eighth career semi-final, got off to a confident start breaking early for a 3-1 lead against Dane Wozniacki.

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki returns the ball to her Swedish opponent Sofia Arvidsson during the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament semifinal match in Moscow. Wozniacki won 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4.

But Wozniacki, who is currently 11th in the world, broke back twice to take the opening set in 40 minutes.

The opponents traded breaks in the second set and in the tiebreak that ensued 46th-ranked Arvidsson pulled level at one set all after one hour 46 minutes on court.

In the deciding set the rivals traded breaks before Monte Carlo resident Wozniacki stepped up the pace to win the contest in two hours 33 minutes.

“I was really fighting out there. It’s tough on this surface to finish off the point,” said Wozniacki who will play her third final of the season.

“I had to step it up to win against her today.

“This surface suits her (Arvidsson) game much more than mine and she could get lots of the balls. Besides, she was playing really good this week.

“It was tough to oppose her as we both know each other very well and know each other’s game so well. I’m just happy to make it to the final.”

Italy’s Andreas Seppi returns a ball to Tunisian Malek Jaziri during their Kremlin Cup tennis tournament semifinal match in Moscow. Seppi won 6-3, 6-1.

In the men’s section of the event Italy’s second seeded Andreas Seppi, 25th in the ATP rankings, ousted Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to reach his fourth final of the season.

“In the semi-finals you always expect a tough match,” said Seppi, who has 1-2 record in the ATP finals this year. “I played well today.”

“I wasn’t playing really aggressively and was waiting for my chances. It could be much closer than the scoreline shows but in general I played some good and intelligent tennis.”

In the final the 28-year-old Seppi will face fourth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, who saw off Croatian hard-server Ivo Karlovic in a tight three-setter 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4.