Azarenka, Kirilenko advance to Kremlin Cup final

MOSCOW (AP)?Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Maria Kirilenko of Russia advanced to the Kremlin Cup final with straight-sets victories on Saturday.

In the first semifinal, second-seeded Azarenka beat eighth-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 6-3 to book her fourth appearance in a final this season.

Kirilenko reached her first final of the year with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Vera Dushevina.

The 10th-ranked Azarenka saved two break points in the opening game and did not face another one the rest of the match. She broke the 28th-ranked Sanchez in the sixth game of the first set and in the first and eighth games of the second.

Serving at 5-3 down in the second set, Sanchez, a doubles specialist, saved two match points before returning wide.

?Sanchez is such a player that you never know what to expect from her,? said Azarenka, who lost to the Spaniard twice this season. ?I?ve chosen the right tactics against her today and didn?t allow her to change the rhythm or advance to the net to attack as she likes doing. I?ve fought for every ball and that was the key to my victory.?

Azarenka is aiming for her fifth career title and second this season. She reached semifinals in Dubai and Eastbourne this year before beating Maria Sharapova in the final in Stanford in July.

By reaching the quarterfinals in the Kremlin Cup, Azarenka secured a spot in the season-ending WTA Tour championships next week in Doha, Qatar. She will replace the injured Serena Williams.

The 24th-ranked Kirilenko hasn?t dropped a set and has lost only nine games in four matches to reach the final on her sixth attempt in her hometown event.

Kirilenko won five consecutive games in the first set against Dushevina. She saved two break points in the second game of the second set before winning five stright games to close the match.

The men?s semifinals will feature fourth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis against Denis Istomin, and Pablo Cuevas against Viktor Troicki.

Source: http://feeds.tennis.com/~r/tenniscom-news/~3/PTDAiOPLv1k/

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