German Kristina Barrois advanced to her second WTA final on Friday at the Estoril Open.The 29-year-old German defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden 7-6(2), 6-4 in one hour and 50 minutes.
Larsson squandered control of the first set, leading 2-0 and 4-2 only to see Barrois win 12 of 15 points for three straight games. Although Larsson broke Barrois to 30 at 5-4, her higher-ranked opponent seized control of the tie-break.
Service breaks were exchanged at the start of the second set, but Barrois won four of the next five games for a 5-2 lead. World No. 71 Barrois missed out on two match point opportunities on the Larsson serve at 2-5, 15/40 and was then broken to 30.
Larsson, serving at 4-5, took a 40/0 lead, but was pinned back. Both players were afflicted by nerves at this point. One further match point opportunity went begging, but Barrois finally sealed victory with a smash.
Barrois will play her first WTA final since May 2010 at Strasbourg (l. to Sharapova). She has a 13-10 match record on the season.
Larsson was appearing in her third WTA semi-final (or better), including 2010 Portoroz (l. to Chakvetadze in the final) and the Acapulco semi-finals (l. to Parra Santonja).
The 22 year old is protected to climb into the Top 70 of the WTA Rankings on Monday.
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