Summary Sara Errani will play Germany's Mona Barthel in the final of the Paris Open.
Top seeded Italian Sara Errani will play Germany s Mona Barthel in the final of the Paris Open after they both clinched easy semi-final victories on Saturday.
Errani was hardly tested as lucky loser Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands retired injured in the first set with a back problem when the 2012 French Open finalist was leading 5-0 and in full command.
Barthel meanwhile sailed through the first set 6-1 against Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic before overcoming sterner resistence to close out the match 6-4 and reach Sunday s championship match.
Errani was grateful for a short day s work after coming through a tough quarter-final on Friday when she was pushed to three sets by Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro.
"I was really tired and I ran a lot," said Errani.
"It was a really gruelling match and it s always more difficult for me on a hard indoor court than on clay. The physio told me to take a bath in ice for 10 minutes so I could better recover but I lasted about three seconds," she joked.
As for the 21-year-old Bertens, who is Holland s highest ranked woman and is now set to break into the world s top 50, it proved a match too far after a busy schedule that saw her come through qualifying for the Australian Open before losing in the second round against Olga Savchuk of the Ukraine.
"I was in a lot of pain this morning even after hours of treatment," she explained on her lower back injury.
"I m going to rest now for three, four or five days and then we ll see how things go."
