Niculescu advances to face Arruabarrena in final of Korea Open

Monica Niculescu of Romania returns a shot against Zhang Shuai of China. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Fifth-seeded Monica Niculescu of Romania defeated Zhang Shuai of China 6-0, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the final of the Korea Open.

The 28-year-old Niculescu, playing in her first event since reaching the third round of the U.S. Open, won seven of 12 break points on her way to a 74-minute win over third-seeded Zhang.

She will face Lara Arruabarrena of Spain in Sunday’s final. Arruabarrena defeated Patricia Maria Tig 6-1, 6-2, ending hopes of an all-Romanian final.

The 22-year-old Arruabarrena advanced to the semifinals after dispatching second-seeded Johanna Larsson of Sweden in straight sets.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.