Estoril Open 2007 News and Events

Victoria Azarenka and qualifier Greta Arn will contest their first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final, at the Tier IV Estoril Open on Sunday.

Azarenka advanced to her first career Tour final in her 19th tournament, when the 17-year-old Belarussian knocked out No. 3 seed and 2005 champion Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-0 in 68 minutes.

Azarenka hit three aces as she dropped just 18 of 51 points on serve in the match. The 2005 Australian and US Open junior champion maintains her record of not dropping a set this week.

She improves to 11-4 this year.

Last year, Azarenka lost to the eventual winner, Jie Zheng of China, in the first round. She made her debut on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour circuit in Kolkata, India in September 2005.

The World No. 68 had previously reached two main Tour semifinals at Guangzhou, China in 2005, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2006.

Safarova, who captured her maiden career singles title over Na Li of China at Estoril in 2005, falls to 15-6 this season.

Azarenka will meet German qualifier Arn for the first time in the final.

Arn surprised Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives 7-6(0), 6-2 in one hour and 44 minutes on Centralito court at the Estadio Nacional. It was the pair’s third career meeting and first at Sony Ericsson WTA Tour-level.

Llagostera Vives led 2-0 at the start of the match, but Arn was able to overcome her nerves to break four times from 11 opportunities and win 64 per cent of points on serve.

The 28-year-old Hungarian-born Arn is having the best week of her 10-year professional career.

Her previous best performance came at Basel in 2001, when she lost in the quarterfinals to Adriana Gersi of the Czech Republic.

Arn is currently No. 176 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID

Azarenka: "The first match of the tournament is always tough and we had tough conditions, but now later in the week I am enjoying clay a lot."

On advancing to the final: "I still don’t feel like I am in the finals, I just feel like I am in paradise. It is just a surprise for me to be in the finals as I did not do too well on clay last year."

Arn: "I am happy and excited and I don’t feel any pressure for tomorrow. That does not mean I don’t want to win, I am just really happy right now."