PARIS (Reuters) - Local favourite Marion Bartoli overcame a sluggish start to reach the final of the Paris Open with a 7-6 6-0 victory over unseeded Czech Klara Zakopalova on Saturday.
The second-seeded Frenchwoman was 5-2 down in the opening set before revving up the engine and forcing a tiebreak she won 7-3, then winning six games in a row.
Bartoli, the tournament favourite after top seed Maria Sharapova was knocked out in the quarter-finals on Friday, will next face Angelique Kerber after the ninth seed from Germany beat Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-7 6-3 6-4.
"At the beginning I experienced some muscle problems after yesterday's (two and a half hour) match," Bartoli told reporters.
Zakopalova's game, however, was also a factor.
"She was hitting unbelievable shots. If she had continued like this it would have been very complicated for me," said Bartoli.
"Then I started to feel better physically. That's a good omen for tomorrow."
(Reporting by Chrystel Boulet-Euchin, writing by Julien Pretot, editing by Tony Jimenez)
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