Serena Williams advanced to the final in the Rogers Cup, beating fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday night.
Williams, playing just her fourth tournament since being sidelined for a year by injuries and illness, will face 10th-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia in the final.
Stosur beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Stosur broke Radwanska three times in the first set, but the Pole rallied to take the second when Stosur double-faulted. The Australian broke Radwanska to go up 5-2 in the third, then won the match with an ace.
The loss ended a nine-match winning streak for Radwanska, who claimed her fifth WTA title last week in Carlsbad, California.
Stosur will return to the top 10 in the WTA rankings next week.
“I think it’s always for any person playing a professional sport like tennis, that benchmark is the top 10, and then you make your top five, and from there, you never know what’s possible,” Stosur said. “But I was definitely very excited when I broke the top 10 the first time.”
Keywords: Rogers Cup, Serena Williams
