London - AFP
Agnieszka Radwanska reached her second straight final at the WTA San Diego Open on Saturday defeating ailing Andrea Petkovic 4-6, 6-0, 6-4. Germany's second-seeded Petkovic was hampered by a stomach virus and had to sprint through the stands to leave the court at mid-game in the second set as her stomach played up. She returned, made her apologies and dropped the second set 0-6. "It was a very tough match," said Radwanska. "Even if she was sick she was playing incredibly. It was great to finally win." Petkovic rallied in the third set, stopping the rot after Radwanska won 10 straight games to take a 4-0 lead in the final set. Petkovic earned a service break and narrowed the gap to 3-4 before Radwanska hit the accelerator and eventually served out the victory on her first match point after two hours, 10 minutes. Poland's Radwanska was runner-up here last year to Svetlana Kuznetsova in her last appearance in a WTA final. Radwanska, who has battled a sore right shoulder all week, will face either top-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva or Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in Sunday's final. Despite the defeat, Petkovic will move into the Top 10 in the world rankings for the first time on Monday, displacing Australian Samantha Stosur.