Laura Robson becomes first British woman in 22 years to reach WTA Tour event final

Laura Robson (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Friday, September 21, 2012
2:45 PM

Laura Robson became the first British woman to make a final of a WTA Tour event since Jo Durie in 1990 after she defeated Sorana Cirstea in the semi-final at the Guangzhou Open.

Robson, who comes from Wimbledon in south-west London, dominated throughout and eased to victory with a 6-4 6-2 win.

The 18-year-old went three games up after breaking her opponent early on before taking the first set, with the second a formality despite some late resistence and a break by her Romanian opponent.

The victory continued the impressive run of form for the new British number one after she overcame seventh seed Peng Shuai in the quarter-finals, following on from her success at the US Open where she made it to the last 16 after wins over Kim Clijsters and Li Na.

Su-Wei Hseih booked her place in the final after she defeated Urszula Radwanska in the other semi-final.

The fourth seed dropped the second set but powered back to win 6-1 3-6 6-0 in a match time of one hour and 37 minutes.