Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic romped into the women’s singles final at the French Open, beating seventh seed Ana Ivanovic in straight sets at the Roland Garros on Thursday.
The 13th seeded Czech proved too strong for Serb, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2008, winning 7-5, 7-5.
In the process Safarova became the first Czech woman in 34 years to reach the French Open final.
Safarova will meet the winner of the second semi-final between top seed Serena Williams of the United States and 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.
For Ivanovic, also the losing finalist to Justine Henin in 2007, it was yet another disappointing show in a major on her favourite surface.
With her title aspirations floundering at 5-2 down in the first set, the 13th seed shook off her jitters and unleashed her A Game to pummel Ivanovic into submission.
The left-handed forehand that had looked rather ordinary during the first seven games suddenly caught fire, helping Safarova to win 20 of the last 26 points in the first set.
Ivanovic surrendered the first set with a service return error, surrendered her serve in the 11th game of the second set with a forehand error and surrendered the match when Safarova smacked a forehand winner.
Safarova, hoping to become the first Czech to lift the Suzanne Lenglen trophy since Hana Mandlikova in 1981, will face either world number one Serena Williams or surprise Swiss semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky in Saturday's showpiece match.
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