Safina to meet Wozniacki in Madrid final

Madrid:

Top-ranked Dinara Safina beat Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to set up a Madrid Open final against Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki, who advanced after a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory over Amelie Mauresmo.

Safina, coming off a victory at Rome, reached her fifth final of the season by staying undefeated in four meetings against the 20th-ranked Schnyder.

The 23-year-old Safina broke Schnyder four times behind 28 winners, and overcame five double faults on the clay at the "Magic Box" tennis center.

After an early break to start the second set, Safina saved two break points in the sixth game and then sent a forehand winner down the line for 4-2.

A nearly identical forehand winner on the run followed in the next game for a final break.

Sunday's final will be the first meeting between Safina and Wozniacki.

The ninth-seeded Wozniacki, who hasn't dropped a set this week to reach her third final of the season, started with a break but struggled with her own serve and was broken twice to trail 5-3.

But Mauresmo missed two set points against the 18-year-old Wozniacki, who rallied with two breaks of her before jumping out to a comfortable 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker.

The players exchanged breaks to open the second set before play steadied, but Mauresmo was broken for the fifth time in the sixth game.

Wozniacki saved two break points in the ninth game before clinching it on her second match point when Mauresmo hit long.

"That's one of my strengths, being able to play aggressively and putting the balls back on the run," said Wozniacki, who will become the first Danish player to crack the top 10 when this week's rankings are released. "We'll see how far I can go."

In the men's draw, top-ranked Rafael Nadal played Novak Djokovic in the men's semifinal later on Saturday, with the winner meeting Roger Federer or Juan Martin del Potro.