Sabalenka, Swiatek set up Stuttgart Open final clash

In last year's final, Sabalenka had lost to former world number one Ash Barty of Australia, who retired from the sport last month.

In the summit clash, third-seeded Sabalenka will face world number one Iga Swiatek of Poland who beat Russia's Liudmila Samsonova 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5 in the second semifinal.

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka defeated Spain's Paula Badosa in straight sets to reach second consecutive Stuttgart Open final on Saturday.

World number four Sabalenka won the one hour 40 minutes long semifinal 7-6 (5), 6-4 against Badosa, who will be the new world number two when the latest rankings are released on Monday.

In the summit clash, third-seeded Belarusian will face world number one Iga Swiatek of Poland who beat Russia's Liudmila Samsonova 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5 in the second semifinal.

In last year's final, Sabalenka had lost to former world number one Ash Barty of Australia, who retired from the sport last month.

Kudermetova knocks out defending champion Cirstea in Istanbul

Russia's Veronika Kudermetova beat defending champion Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the semifinal of the WTA250 event in Istanbul.

Third-seeded Kudermetova defeated Cirstea 6-3, 6-3 to set up an all-Russian summit clash with Anastasia Potapova, who had earlier beaten Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first semifinal.