World No. 7 Sara Errani advanced to the championship final at 21st Open GDF Suez after lucky loser Kiki Bertens retired with injury.  The top seeded Italian had built a 5-0 edge when Bertens called it a day, citing a left pelvis injury.

“It has been a strange week for me,” said Errani, who is through to the final via two retirements during the tournament. “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 will next face Germany’s Mona Barthel, who defeated hometown wildcard Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.

“I expected a really tough match today – she beat so many great players this week and was playing great tennis, so I knew I had to serve well and play my best,” Barthel said. “I wasn’t focusing on winning, I was just focusing on my strokes and going for my shots and it went well for me today.”

Elsewhere at the Pattaya Open, second seed Maria Kirilenko made the final with a straight-sets drubbing of 4th seed Sorana Cirstea, 6-0, 6-2.  The Russian will contest the title against 5th seed Sabine Lisicki, who took out Russia’s Nina Bratchikova in straight sets.

“I didn’t have the rhythm on my serve in the first set, but in the second set I found it again,” Lisicki said. “Nina hit some big serves today too – sometimes it was also skipping off the line, not much you can do there – but I did a pretty good job to win and play well in the important moments in the match.”