Top seed Maria Sharapova defeated Patty Schnyder 7-5 7-5 on Saturday to set up a Linz Open final against fellow Russian Nadia Petrova. Sharapova's semi-final win lifted her above Justine Henin-Hardenne into second place in the world behind Amelie Mauresmo and effectively ended third seed Schnyder's hopes of qualifying for the WTA Championship in Madrid next month.
Second seed Petrova, the title holder, easily overcame fourth-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-1 6-2. Neither Sharapova nor Swiss Schnyder found much rhythm or consistency. The Russian broke for a 2-1 lead but, as she did twice in her quarter-final win over Ana Ivanovic, failed to serve out the set at her first opportunity.
After failing to convert three set points on Schnyder's serve at 5-3, Sharapova lost another on her own serve before the Swiss broke for 5-5. Sharapova broke again to go 6-5 up when her opponent hit a backhand long.
The Russian immediately lost her own serve after breaking at the start of the second set but then broke again to move 6-5 in front after Schnyder netted a forehand.
Double-faulting on her first match point, Sharapova finally took the match on her third by firing an ace. "I felt I couldn't quite put three good games together," Sharapova told reporters. "A little bit of that is fatigue and a little bit is lack of concentration.
"She's not an easy opponent to play against. She makes you hit a lot of balls, she has a pretty big forehand and she keeps the ball in play." Petrova's strong serve, aggressive groundstrokes and better consistency allowed her to claim a comfortable win over Vaidisova. The Russian broke to lead 2-0 but had to hold off a break point in each of her next two service games before a netted forehand gave her a further break for 5-1.
Petrova maintained control in the second set, breaking to go 1-0 up. A second break at 4-2 left her to serve out for a place in her third final in four weeks. She won in Stuttgart by beating Tatiana Golovin and reached the Moscow final before losing to fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
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