Luxembourg, Luxembourg – Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Romania's Monica Niculescu were semifinal winners Saturday and will play for the title at the Luxembourg Open.
The top-seeded Azarenka had little trouble in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Germany's Julia Goerges after Niculescu battled for just over three hours in a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 triumph over England's Anne Keothavong.
Niculescu will play in her first career WTA final. She was a semifinalist twice earlier this year, losing to Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain this spring in Estoril before last week's setback to Germany's Andrea Petkovic in Beijing.
The 24-year-old Bucharest resident also made the fourth round at the U.S. Open last month and has risen to 34th in the rankings. If Niculescu wins the title on Sunday, she will qualify for next month's Tournament of Champions in Bali.
Keothavong was also trying to reach a final for the first time in her career. She has now lost each of her seven WTA semifinal appearances.
It'll be tough for Niculescu on Sunday, as Azarenka will be trying for her eighth career WTA title and third this year. She won back-to-back tournaments in Miami and Marbella back in April and also reached the final at Madrid a few weeks later, losing to Petra Kvitova.
Azarenka then reached the quarterfinals at the French Open and the semifinals at Wimbledon, losing to the eventual champion each time. She was beaten by Li Na at Roland Garros and Kvitova at the All England Club.
This week has been relatively easy for the third-ranked player in the world. She has not lost a set in her first four matches and has dropped a mere 18 games on the way to her 15th career final.
Azarenka has dominated Niculescu in three lifetime meetings. She lost just five games in winning the first two matchups, including 6-0, 6-0 triumph three years ago in Zurich, and claimed a 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 victory in the first round of the 2010 U.S. Open in their most recent battle.
The 2011 Luxembourg titlist will collect $37,000.
