Wozniacki books spot in Stuttgart final

World number one was made to work hard for one set before beating Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-3.

Stuttgart: World number one Caroline Wozniacki was made to work hard for one set before beating Poland`s Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to set up a Stuttgart Grand Prix final against Germany`s Julia Goerges.

The 20-year-old Dane, who has already won three titles this year and will be contesting her fifth final, has yet to lose a set in the tournament and will be the overwhelming favourite against world number 32 Goerges, who edged past Australian Samantha Stosur in three sets. Radwanska, ranked 14th in the world, broke Wozniacki in the first game and took a quick 3-1 lead. Wozniacki, who is eyeing the French Open next month as she searches for her maiden grand slam title, started mixing cross-court drop shots with deep baseline play, pinning her rival back, and winning three games in a row. She earned her first set point after 48 minutes but Radwanska fired her third ace to deny her and level 5-5. Wozniacki needed four more set points at 6-5 until she finally broke her opponent`s serve again to take the first set. She gradually took control of the match and held serve to open up a 5-2 lead but failed to convert a match point in the next game. She wasted three more match points before grabbing victory after an hour and 54 minutes. Earlier, Goerges upset world number seven Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to book her first final spot this year and become the first German finalist in Stuttgart since Anke Huber in 1996. "To beat a player like Stosur is just unbelievable," the world number 32 said in a courtside interview as the crowd gave her a standing ovation. "To do that in front of a home crowd is even better. I just don`t have the words to describe how happy I am." The 22-year-old got off to a flying start, breaking Stosur to go 3-1 up in the first set, pinning her back with penetrating groundstrokes on the indoor clay court. She clinched the first set with a beautifully executed drop shot on her first opportunity. Stosur, last year`s losing French Open finalist who skipped the Fed Cup last week to focus on her clay court preparation, improved in the second set, stretching the German with her fine forehand to break and go 3-1 up. Georges started piling up unforced errors and the Australian opened up a 4-1 lead before serving out the second set. In the third set Goerges broke to go 4-2 up. Stosur briefly recovered with a break of her own but lost her serve again to drop 6-5 behind. The German then unleashed a string of bludgeoning groundstrokes to claim the match. Bureau Report