Barbora Krejcikova & Jelena Ostapenko reach Birmingham Classic final

LONDON: The top two seeds at the Birmingham Classic, No.1 Barbora Krejcikova and No.2 Jelena Ostapenko, will square off for the title in Sunday's championship match.

Top-seeded Krejcikova of the Czech Republic stormed into the Birmingham final with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over China's Zhu Lin on Saturday.

The top seed maintained her strong play against Zhu, blazing four aces and winning more than half of the points when returning Zhu's first serve.

"Definitely feels great, I'm really happy with the way I played today. It's always difficult to play on the grass because the game can change quickly, so I'm happy how I handled the match and that I'm in the final," WTA quoted Krejcikova as saying after her victory.

Latvia's Ostapenko overcame No.4 seed Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday's second semifinal. World No.17 Ostapenko and No.21 Potapova had won both of their previous matches in three sets this week, and Saturday's semifinal followed suit. Ostapenko eventually won, with five breaks of service to Potapova's three.

Ostapenko saved three set opportunities at 5-4 in the first set, but Potapova won it two games later with a forehand winner on her sixth set point. Ostapenko, on the other hand, used her own powerful forehands to gain a 4-0 lead in the second set, eventually tying the match at one set apiece.

ostapenko grabbed the crucial break at 3-3 in the third set, hitting four outstanding return winners to break serve. "it was a really tough match, and it's never easy to play great players like anastasia. i was trying to play aggressive and to play my game. ... i think it worked pretty well at the end, and the deciding moments, i felt like i played well," ostapenko said afterwards.