Spanish 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro kept herself in contention for only her second career title by squeezing past Simona Halep of Romania 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 and into the final of the WTA Italian Open on Saturday.
Meanwhile, men's top seed Novak Djokovic defeated seventh-seeded David Ferrer of Spain6-4, 6-4.
Suarez Navarro, whose only title win to date was at Oeiras in 2014, defeated both Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova on her way to a last-four match-up with Halep.
Halep, who had ended the hopes of Venus Williams in the third round before sweeping compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru aside in the quarterfinals, was unstoppable in the first set.
But the Romanian fell victim to unforced errors throughout a second set that saw her Spanish opponent level the match.
It could have gone either way in the decider after Suarez took her lead to 6-5 in the final set.
But the 26-year-old Spaniard secured match point with a great shot down the right hand side of the court with Halep stranded at the net, and sealed the win when the Romanian netted a return.
Hard-fought winMeanwhile, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis regained the No. 1 spot in the rankings after reaching the women’s doubles final with a hard-fought 6-2, 7-6(5) win over Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik. The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair saved a set point in the second set tie-break.
They won titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston in an extraordinary good run after joining forces. They are now 18-2 together since March, a 90% winning percentage.
Awaiting them in the final will be No.3 seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, who beat No.8 seeds Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first semifinal 6-2, 6-4.
On Friday, seven-time champion Rafael Nadal was stunned in the last eight of ATP event by Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.
The results:Men: Quarterfinals: Stan Wawrinka bt Rafael Nadal 7-6(7), 6-2.
Women:Semifinals: Carla Suarez Navarro bt Simona Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Quarterfinals: Maria Sharapova bt Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-2; Daria Gavrilova bt Christina McHale 6-2, 6-4; Suarez Navarro bt Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-2. Doubles: Semifinals: Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis bt Caroline Garcia & Katarina Srebotnik 6-2, 7-6(5); Timea Babos & Kristina Mladenovic bt Alla Kudryavtseva & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4. — Agencies
