LUXEMBOURG — Misaki Doi will take on Mona Barthel in her first WTA tour final after Alison Van Uytvanck was forced to retire when trailing 6-4 against the Japanese player in their semifinal at the Luxembourg Open on Saturday.
Van Uytvanck, a quarterfinalist at the French Open, cited a viral illness. The Belgian had defeated Ana Ivanovic and Barbora Strycova en route to the semifinals.
"I will try to just focus my tennis and not think about the fact that it’s a final," said Doi, who ended a four-match losing streak with a hard-fought victory over fourth-seeded Andrea Petkovic in her opening round.
"I’d lost a little bit of confidence, but then I played Petkovic, and I was feeling good after that," she said.
Barthel converted four of five break points to breeze past wild-card entry Stefanie Voegele 6-2, 6-3 in the other semifinal. She will be bidding for a fourth career title in Sunday’s final.
"It was a really good match," Barthel said. "I didn’t expect it would go that well for me, but I’m happy with the way I played. I think I played really solid and aggressive, but didn’t make a lot of mistakes."
Doi upset former top-ranked player Jelena Jankovic in the quarterfinals.