Lucie Safarova to meet Sam Stosur in Prague Open final

Lucie Safarova will play Sam Stosur in the final of the WTA Prague Open.

Second-seed Safarova defeated defending champion Karolina Pliskova 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in an all-Czech semi-final.

Safarova trailed 4-1 in the second set but hit back to make it 5-5, at which point she forced Pliskova to save two break points, the first one with one of her nine aces.

However, the 29-year-old converted her first match point in the tie-break with a forehand winner to notch her second successive victory over Pliskova after a run of three straight defeats.

Safarova, who is seeking her seventh WTA Tour title, had not won a singles match this season before claiming four in a row in Prague.

Australian fourth seed Stosur, who has eight career titles, advanced on a walkover after top-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia withdrew from the other semi-final due to an abdominal muscle problem