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Aryna Sabalenka
World number one Aryna Sabalenka has advanced to her fourth final at the Porsche Grand Prix Tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.
The Belarusian defeated the Italian fifth seed, 7-5, 6-4, in a match of contrasting styles.
She will meet unseeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in Monday’s final, hoping for a first title in Stuttgart.
Sabalenka didn’t have it all her own way, but the 33 winners and only 19 unforced errors proved the difference in the end.
Paolini pushed Sabalenka hard to recover from an early break in the first set, but the Belarusian halted her comeback by wrapping the first set up 7-5.
The Italian, a runner-up in last summer’s French Open and Wimbledon, broke early to lead 2-0 in the second.
But Sabalenka – a three-time Grand Slam champion – shifts up a gear to win six of the next eight games and record a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
In the other semi-final, world number 24 Ostapenko reached her second final of the season.
The Latvian, who had a stellar run in Doha in February, beat Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-4.
Ostapenko advanced to the semi-finals in Stuttgart after a sixth straight victory over world number two, Iga Swiatek of Poland.
She gave Alexandrova a hard time, delivering thundering groundstrokes on her way to a first clay court final since winning the French Open in 2017.
That’s the only Grand Slam title Ostapenko has won thus far.
