Francesca Schiavone booked her place in the final of the Strasbourg International with victory over Sloane Stephens.
Italian finding form ahead of Roland Garros return
Former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone served notice of her intentions ahead of her return to Roland Garros this week as she booked her place in the final of the Strasbourg International.
The Italian second seed proved too good for American world number 79 Sloane Stephens, grabbing her third and decisive break at a crucial point to take the set, and breaking three times more in the second set to win 7-5 6-1.
"The first set wasn't great. I was using what was there in that moment and just tried to keep going," Schiavone said.
"It wasn't easy today. It was windy, and it's particularly difficult when you play against the wind, because you have to push hard and stay down with your legs, and be consistent - it's hard to make great shots, so you just have to study how to play the best way, then do it.
"Sloane can play really well, so I had to use my experience. It wasn't great tennis, but it was important to win and I'm very happy to be in the final."
Schiavone - winner at Rolland Garros in 2010 and runner-up 12 months ago - will play wild card Alize Cornet in the final after Cornet won an all-French tussle with Pauline Parmentier, the world number 66 who had accounted for top seed Sabine Lisicki in the opening round.
Parmentier's dream week looked like getting even better when she took the first set, but Cornet improved her service considerably - denying her opponent a single break point in second set, as she came through 4-6 6-1 6-3.
