STUTTGART — Qualifier Laura Siegemund continued her amazing run at Stuttgart's WTA indoor clay-court tournament Saturday by knocking out top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals.
Siegemund claimed her third major scalp en route to Sunday's final, where she will face fellow German and defending champion Angelique Kerber, with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Radwanska.
The 28-year-old, ranked 71st in the world, needed less than an hour and-a-half to dispatch her Polish opponent, who is ranked second in the world, and claim the biggest win of her career.
"I'm overwhelmed and speechless. And that doesn't happen very often," said Siegemund, who will drive home the prize of a luxury Porsche sports car if she wins the final.
"That will be staying in Germany," she smiled.
Siegemund has never won a WTA tournament and only qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon last year.
She has fought her way to the Stuttgart final, also taking out seeded players Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci in the second round and quarterfinals respectively.
Earlier, Australian Open champion Kerber won her semi with a gritty 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Petra Kvitova.
Kerber, the defending champion in Stuttgart, needed just over two hours to seal her win after Kvitova recovered from losing the first set to win the tight second.
Kerber, the second seed here, dug deep in the third by making the majority of her first serves count to seal the win.
In a duel of left-handers, Kerber raced out to a 4-1 lead with two early breaks and although Kvitova, the 2014 Wimbledon champion, pulled things back to 5-4, the German won the first set.
Kvitova used her only break of the second to level before Kerber established control early in the third to build up a commanding 5-2 lead to then win the match.
Nadal-Nishikori Barcelona final
Rafael Nadal will play Kei Nishikori in the Barcelona Open final after both past champions won their semifinals in straight sets Saturday.
Nadal saw off Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-3 to return to his first final here since 2013, when he won the tournament a record eighth time.
Nishikori, the two-time defending champion, beat Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-2 earlier on the outdoor clay court.
Nadal holds an 8-1 win-loss record against Nishikori, but expects a tough final.
"I will have to play my best," he said.
The top-seeded Nadal eased past Kohlschreiber, breaking his serve three times and saving the only break chance he conceded to the German. The home favorite sealed the win when Kohlschreiber hit his return long.
Nishikori dominated Paire, finishing the match with a total of five of nine break chances converted.
"It's been great these three years here so I hope I can play a great match tomorrow," Nishikori said.
The second-seeded Japanese took an early lead at 3-2 after Paire risked a drop shot that fell into the net to cede his second service game. It got worse for the Frenchman when he committed consecutive double faults to cede the last two points of the first set.
Paire was erratic, mixing unforced errors and trick shots, including a between-the-legs drop shot that he unsuccessfully tried to repeat on the match's last point.
Pouille-Verdasco Bucharest final
French hope Lucas Pouille reached an ATP top-level tour final for the first time in his career thanks to a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over Federico Delbonis of Argentina in Bucharest on Saturday.
The 22-year-old, ranked 72nd in the world, reached the round of 16 at Monte Carlo last week as he opened his claycourt season leading up to the French Open, which starts in Paris in late May.
In the final in Bucharest he will meet Fernando Verdasco, who defeated fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the other semi.
