Belgian Yanina Wickmayer has prevailed in a tough battle to defeat Germany’s Mona Barthel and reach the ASB Classic tennis final for the third time.
Third seed Wickmayer repelled a big comeback by her eighth-seeded opponent before winning 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-3) in Auckland on Friday.
The windy conditions made it difficult for both players, and Wickmayer, the 2010 champion and 2011 runner-up, coped better in the opening set.
However, Barthel suddenly shifted up the gears to hit some blistering winners and reel off six games in a row to level.
With no breaks in the third set, the match went into a tiebreak, where Barthel’s serve, which had been so effective – she sent down 12 aces – deserted her.
Two consecutive Barthel double faults, followed by an unlucky netcord for the German, put Wickmayer up 5-1 and the world No.23 successfully served out the match.
The second semi-final is between top seed and world No.4 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and unseeded American Jamie Hampton.