Barthel Meets Errani in Paris Indoors Finals

Top seed Sara Errani will face Germany's Mona Barthel in the Open GDF Suez finals with both women seeking the biggest titles of their careers.

By Erik Gudris

(February 2nd, 2013) -- No. 1 seed Sara Errani finds herself in the finals of the Open GDF Suez in Paris after her opponent, "lucky loser" Kiki Bertens ran out of luck today in their semifinal match.

Bertens, who has been dealing with a bad back all week since she came out of qualies, felt more pain than she expected during the first set. After going down 0-5, Bertens called for the trainer and then decided her back had had enough. Bertens retired sending Errani through to her first final of the season.

Errani admitted that it had been a strange week for her as she's advanced to the finals twice by retirement along with battling for over three hours against Carla Suarez Navarro, a match Errani says she is still recovering from.

"I knew Kiki was a bit hurt, so I told myself to try to have a good start and just stay focused - at least now I will have a bit more time to feel better after my quarterfinal match," Errani told WTA.com afterwards.

Waiting for Errani will be Germany's Mona Barthel who took on the local hope in 19-year-old Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic.

Barthel put on a near clinic in the first set as she didn't face a break point while winning a healthy 77% of her first serve points. Mladenovic fought back in the second set and made things a bit closer, but Barthel proved she was up to the challenge as she fought off all three break points against her.

Barthel earned a late break of serve and that was enough for her to go ahead and close out the 6-1, 6-4 victory.

"I never played her before and we're here in Paris, which is her city," said Barthel afterwards to the tournament's website, referring to Errani's run to the Roland Garros finals last year. "I'm just going to enjoy it and play my game."

Both Barthel and Errani will be seeking the biggest title of their careers tomorrow. Barthel won her first and only title so far last year in Hobart while Errani holds six WTA titles including four earned in 2012.

(Photo Credit: AP)