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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SportsNetwork.com) - Top seed Klara Zakopalova was a semifinal winner Saturday at the inaugural Rio Open tennis event.
The Czech broke Brazil's Teliana Pereira serve seven times and fought off 8- of-10 break points in a 6-2, 6-1 win on the red clay at Jockey Club Brasileiro.
Zakopalova owns two career titles, winning both way back in 2005. She was the runner-up in Hobart last month, dropping her record in finals to 2-11.
Zakopalova will look to end the drought against Japan's Kurumi Nara. The fifth-seeded Nara outlasted Italian qualifier Nastassja Burnett 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Nara will be appearing in her first final.
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