NICE, France: Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 Friday to line up an Open de Nice final against Romania's Victor Hanescu. Almagro slammed an ace to take the first set against his Czech Republic opponent and broke the second-seeded Berdych in the next set at 2-2 before holding serve to seal a place in Saturday's final. The third-seeded Almagro will be looking to win a third title on clay this season. In the earlier semifinal, Hanescu upset fifth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 6-3 to reach his first final of the year. Hanescu broke Dolgopolov once and saved two break points to take the first set. The 69th-ranked Romanian opened up a 4-1 lead in the second set before hitting a backhand winner down the line to clinch victory. Wozniacki-Peng final In Brussels, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki outlasted French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Friday to reach the final of the Brussels Open. She will face Peng Shuai in Saturday's final after the Chinese upset No. 3-ranked Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3. In a match lasting 2 hours, 32 minutes, Wozniacki kept the coolest head in the final set and will now seek her fourth title of the year for a perfect warmup to the French Open. The 31st-ranked Peng relied on her powerful serve throughout the match to pressure Zvonareva and capitalized on a string of unforced errors by the Russian to reach her first final since 2008 and earn a shot at a first WTA tour victory. Germany-Argentina final In Germany, Germany will play defending champion Argentina in the final of the World Team Cup after beating Russia 2-0 in the clay-court tournament Friday. Philipp Kohlschreiber sealed the vital point, beating Mikhail Youzhny 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, after Philipp Petzschner saw off Igor Andreev 6-2, 6-4 to put Germany top of the blue group before the end of the day's play. At the same time, Serbia won its two singles ties against Spain, Germany's leading rival for the final berth. Germany will play in the final for the eighth time — winning four times 1989, 1994, 1998, 2005 — including twice against Argentina. Four-time winner Argentina booked its ticket to the final Thursday beating the United States after Sweden and Kazakhstan. Bartoli to face Petkovic In Strasbourg, top-seeded Marion Bartoli of France easily beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-1, 6-2 on Friday to reach the final of the Strasbourg International. The Frenchwoman will face Andrea Petkovic of Germany, who outlasted Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted 2 hours, 42 minutes. Bartoli put pressure on her opponent's serve throughout the match, winning 27 of 43 return points. She is trying to build confidence on clay ahead of the French Open after a first-round exit in Barcelona and second-round losses in Charleston, Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome. In the second semifinal, the sixth-seeded Hantuchova leveled at one set apiece when Petkovic double-faulted. But the second-seeded German fought back in the decider by jumping to a 3-0 lead. She converted her third match point to reach her second final this season.
