Maria Kirilenko of Russia beat Sorona Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the final of the Pattaya Open Saturday. Kirilenko will face third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova in the final after the Slovakian beat qualifier Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6-4, 6-1. The 26-year-old Kirilenko will be bidding for her sixth career title and first since 2008. Kirilenko broke Cirstea in the fifth game of the first set to take a 3-2 lead and cruised the rest of the way to take the set with an ace. Cirstea fought back to take a 4-2 lead in the second only for Kirilenko to bounce back and take a 5-4 lead. Eventually the Romanian leveled the match when Kirilenko double faulted and drove a forehand long. In the third, Kirilenko made the most of a break, holding on to win the deciding set and secure victory in 2 hours, 28 minutes. “It was a high quality match. We both played well. I was luckier today,” said Kirilenko. “She played so well and fought for every point and hit hard. But I was aggressive and had good serves and backhand.” Bartoli-Kerber final In Paris, local favorite Marion Bartoli overcame a sluggish start to reach the final of the Paris Open with a 7-6, 6-0 victory over unseeded Czech Klara Zakopalova Saturday. The second-seeded Frenchwoman was 5-2 down in the opening set before revving up the engine and forcing a tiebreak she won 7-3, then winning six games in a row. Bartoli, the tournament favorite after top seed Maria Sharapova was knocked out in the quarterfinals Friday, will next face Angelique Kerber after the ninth seed from Germany beat Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-7 6-3 6-4. “In the beginning of the match, she hit some great shots,” Bartoli said. “She would have been too strong for me if she had kept playing like that. I weathered the storm, telling myself that it would be difficult for her to maintain such a level throughout the match. “From the moment I won the first set, things became clearly more difficult for her.” Zakopalova's game, however, was also a factor. “She was hitting unbelievable shots. If she had continued like this it would have been very complicated for me,” said Bartoli. “Then I started to feel better physically. That's a good omen for tomorrow.”
