NUREMBERG, Germany (AP) — Alison Riske of the United States will play Johanna Larsson of Sweden in the Nuremberg Cup final after winning two matches on Friday.
The 105th-ranked Riske defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals, having progressed against the injured Sorana Cirstea earlier when the sixth-seeded Romanian retired at 2-6, 7-5, 1-0.
"It's very exciting to be back in a final, and I'm just excited to be playing in it," Riske said of her first final of the year. The 27-year-old will be going for just her second title and her first since winning in Tianjin in 2014.
Flipkens was also playing her second match of the day. The Belgian player ended Kiki Bertens' bid for a third straight title in Nuremberg with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (3) win in the quarterfinals. It ended Bertens' 13-match winning run at the clay-court tournament.
Larsson sealed her place in Saturday's decider with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over the eighth-seeded Katerina Siniakova in the semifinals.