LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - The drama was high on Semifinal Saturday of the BGL Luxembourg Open, as Sabine Lisicki and Timea Bacsinszky both went the distance to book their spots in Sunday afternoon's title match of the International-level Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event.
Bacsinszky was the first to advance, snapping the eight-match win streak of Yanina Wickmayer, 36 62 75. Bacsinszky had just lost to Wickmayer in straight sets last week in Linz, but this week regrouped after a first set loss, taking a 62 41 lead from there and eventually edging the Belgian No.5 seed.
"I was in two semifinals this year and didn't want to lose another!" Bacsinszky said. "I played differently in the second set and pulled it through. It was a tight third set and yes I could have lost it but I wanted to be in the final badly."
Bacsinszky's win over the world No.20 was her second career win over a Top 20 player, having beaten Anastasia Myskina at Zürich in 2006.
Lisicki, the No.6 seed, surpassed the two hour mark in her semifinal, stopping Shahar Peer, 63 46 76(5). Although she didn't face any match points, Lisicki had to rally from 4-2 down in the third set and 5-3 down in the tie-break against the former world No.15, and one of the toughest competitors around.
"I'm very happy to be in the final, especially after fighting so much today," Lisicki said. "We had some very tough rallies. It was a very high quality match and Shahar played very well. It was a tough one until the very end!"
Lisicki won her only previous meeting against Bacsinszky, 60 64, in Fed Cup play earlier this year. The German has played two finals in her Tour career, finishing runner-up at Tashkent last fall (to Sorana Cirstea) and winning Charleston earlier this year; Bacsinszky is in her first singles final on the Tour.
