Paris: Marion Bartoli of France and Angelique Kerber of Germany won semifinal matches on Saturday and will play for the title at the Open GDF Suez.
Bartoli, seeded second, beat Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (3), 6-0 to reach her first final since winning the Japan Open last October. Kerber, a US Open semifinalist, defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4.
Bartoli hit two consecutive aces to take a 5-0 lead in the final set, converting her first match point with a forehand return winner.
Zakopalova took a 4-2 lead in the first set, but Bartoli saved two set points in the eighth game and broke back in the ninth with a forehand return winner to force a tiebreaker.
"In the beginning of the match, she hit some great shots," Bartoli said. "She would have been too strong for me if she had kept playing like that. I weathered the storm, telling myself that it would be difficult for her to maintain such a level throughout the match."
Bartoli capitalized on a couple of unforced errors from Zakopalova to lead 5-1 in the tiebreaker, and won the first set when the Czech hit a backhand return long.
"At one point, I felt that I was getting the upper hand," Bartoli said. "She was struggling and making unforced errors that she didn't make when she was leading. ... From the moment I won the first set, things became clearly more difficult for her."
In the second semifinal, Kerber broke for a 4-3 lead in the final set on an unforced error. Wickmayer saved four match points at 5-3, but Kerber clinched the match in the next game when the Belgian netted a backhand return. Kerber made 16 fewer unforced errors than Wickmayer.
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