DUESSELDORF — Top-seeded Philipp Kohlscheriber of Germany beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Friday to set up a Duesseldorf Open final against Ivo Karlovic. Karlovic of Croatia used his big serve to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Kohlschreiber had lost all of his three previous matches against Istomin but the German broke serve for a decisive 3-2 lead in the third set and held on to reach his first final of the year. Karlovic hit his 16th ace to win the match and make it to the final of a clay-court event for the first time since 2007, when he won his only title on the surface in Houston. On Thursday, Karlovic advanced to the semifinals, hitting 19 aces in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over defending champion Juan Monaco of Argentina. In other matches, Vesely spoiled Jurgen Melzer's 33rd birthday by beating the Austrian 6-1, 6-1 and Istomin upset third-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4 to record his 150th career win. Gulbis to face Delbonis Second-seeded Ernests Gulbis will meet Federico Delbonis in the Open de Nice final after brushing aside defending champion Albert Montanes Friday. Gulbis of Latvia dropped just one point on his first serve on his way to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over the Spaniard. The seventh-seeded Delbonis ousted fourth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-4. Gulbis has won all five of his previous finals on the ATP tour, and triumphed in Marseille in February. On Thursday, top-seeded John Isner of the United States lost 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (6) to Delbonis, Simon eased past another Argentine, Carlos Berlocq, 6-4, 6-1, Gulbis beat fifth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) and Montanes defeated Argentine qualifier Leonardo Mayer 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4. Puig to take on Soler-Espinosa Monica Puig of Puerto Rico and Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain will play for a first WTA title when they meet in the Strasbourg International final after both defeated American players Friday. The 20-year-old Puig beat Madison Keys 7-5, 6-3 in the second semifinal after qualifier Soler-Espinosa edged Christina McHale 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-3 in a match which lasted 2 hours, 46 minutes, 3 seconds. Both Puig and Soler-Espinosa reached their first final. On Thursday, Petkovic of Germany lost 6-4, 6-4 to Puig, Julia Goerges of Germany was beaten by Madison Keys of the US, another American was through, as Christina McHale was 6-2, 3-1 up against Zarina Diyas, before the Kazakh retired through injury and Soler-Espinosa edged Camila Giorgi of Italy 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Pliskova-Bouchard final Second-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada will play Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic for the Nuremberg Cup title. Bouchard defeated Karin Knapp of Italy 6-4, 6-3 and Pliskova upset fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Friday's semifinals. On Thursday, Pliskova upset top-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-6 (5), 6-4, Bouchard defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), Knapp outlasted seventh-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4 and Svitolina downed Mona Barthel of France 6-4, 6-4. — Agencies
