Diamond Games: Petkovic reaches final, will face Suarez Navarro

Third-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany beat unseeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) on Saturday to reach the Diamond Games final, where she faces fifth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.

In a laborious match, Petkovic and Zahlavova Strycova broke each other four times in the first set. Zahlavova Strycova served for it at 6-5 but Petkovic forced a tiebreaker.

Petkovic looked in command serving at 4-3 in the second set but Zahlavova Strycova broke her serve to make it 4-4.

Earlier, Suarez Navarro had little trouble beating eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, breaking the Czech player's serve five times in a 6-2, 6-2 win.

Petkovic, who won three titles last year, goes for her sixth career title, while Suarez Navarro bids for her second.