Anna Bondar vs Kimberly Birrell — SF — Korea Open

Kimberly Birrell reached the Korea Open final in Seoul, beating Anna Bondar in a three-set semifinal that ran two hours and 20 minutes. The second seed, WTA No. 56, created chances throughout without converting many of them: she earned 19 break points and took five, a 26% rate against Bondar's 44% from nine. Two of those conversions came in a row, in games 11 and 12, to close the opening set 7-5. Bondar, the No. 6 seed, answered immediately. She broke in game 2 and again in game 6 for a 5-1 lead, and the second set was hers 6-2. Birrell's serve held up in the decider. She won 90% of her first-serve points in that set and faced no break points, and her breaks in games 3 and 5 carried her to 4-1 before she finished it 6-1. It was her second straight three-setter in Seoul, after she recovered from a set down against Katie Volynets in the quarterfinals. The two had no prior meetings on record.