The NÜRNBERGER Gastein Ladies final is all set and Samantha Stosur booked her place after defeating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. The Australian cruised through the opening set but the young Slovak lifted her game to advance 5-2 in the second. The former US Open champion, however, was too strong for the 20-year-old and got her game back to take the match at 7-5.

Like Us on Facebook

"Basically I thought I was going to be able to have more chances to break her," Stosur spoke of how she was able to recover in the second set. "I was able to break her a couple of times in the first set, and I knew if I kept playing the way I was, I would have more opportunities. It's not like she was holding serve easily - I got to 30-all and deuce on most of her service games in the second set, and I knew I would eventually get more chances to break."

The 31-year-old from Brisbane is one win away from securing her eighth career WTA tournament title and waiting for her is Karin Knapp who just won her all-Italian semifinal match against top seed Sara Errani in 3 sets with the score of 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-5.

The first set saw Errani going up 3-0 against her compatriot, but the 3rd seed rallied to take it into a tiebreak that ultimately went to her favor. The second set, on the other hand, showed the aggressiveness of the Italian no. 1 who broke Knapp thrice, but at 5-5 in the final set, Knapp regained her form to take the last two games and put herself in her fourth career WTA final appearance.

Stosur and Knapp will face each other for the first time and the world no. 23 may have a bit of an advantage as the match will be played on the same day as Knapp's last match. The scheduling that may result to match fatigue could pose a problem for the Italian who needed two hours and 27 minutes to beat Errani.

Yet Stosur believes that the encounter will still be a tough one. "It's hard to play twice in one day," she admitted in her interview on Saturday. "But sometimes it also helps you play yourself into your best form, so I know I'll just have to play my best tomorrow."

TagsNÜRNBERGER Gastein Ladies final, wta scores, Samantha Stosur, Karin Knapp, stosur vs knapp, gastein ladies finals, australian tennis news