Italian Sara Errani upset reigning U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in the French Open semifinal Thursday to reach her first Grand Slam final.
Errani held onto an early break in the first set but was subjected to a second-set thrashing by her Australian opponent, the losing finalist at Roland Garros in 2010, only to recover in the decider for a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 win.
Errani, the 21st seed, has beaten three higher-seeded players on her way to the final, and scalped former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic.
The result means that the Italian will play in two French Open finals this weekend after she and partner Roberta Vinci won their women’s doubles semifinal Wednesday.
The Italian pair’s opponents will be Russia’s Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, who reached the final with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 win in a rain-interrupted match against Czech fifth seeds Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova that finished Thursday.
