Unseeded Belgian Kirsten Flipkens surprised third-seeded German Mona Barthel 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) on Saturday to reach the final of the Bell Challenge WTA Tour tournament.
Flipkens, who toppled top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the first round for her third career win over a top-20 player, will be seeking her first WTA Tour title.
She’ll have to get past another seeded player in Sunday’s final after eighth-seeded Czech Lucie Hradecka beat French teenager Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 7-6 (7-5) on the indoor carpet at PEPS Laval University.
Germany’s Barthel, who won the title in Hobart in January as a qualifier, had ousted defending champion Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the quarter-finals, but had no luck against Flipkens in the two tiebreaks.