Los Angeles: Australian Samantha Stosur used her big serve to overwhelm Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-2 in the semi-finals of the LA Championships on Saturday.
In reaching her first final of the year, Stosur nailed seven aces and won 85 percent of her first serve points.
"It's a lot easier when you get off to good start," said Stosur, who broke the Romanian in her first service game and did not face a break point in the first set. "I played well and eliminated the things she could do to me."
Cirstea had suffered a right foot injury in her upset of Agnieszka Radwanska on Friday and never looked comfortable moving, committing 25 unforced errors.
Stosur broke Cirstea to 2-1 in the second set when she blasted a forehand return that the Romanian could not handle.
Stosur fought off two break points in the next game, broke Cirstea again to 4-1 and never looked back, winning the contest when the Romanian erred on a backhand return.
Stosur will face the winner of the match between three-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova and 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, August 09, 2009, 10:08