Cibulkova to meet Safina in final

Dominika Cibulkova continued her surprising play by upending 10th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 4-6 6-4 6-3 in a rain-delayed semi-final at the Rogers Cup on Saturday.

Cibulkova had to earn her spot, waiting out the rain before finally getting past Bartoli in two hours and 45 minutes to earn a spot in Sunday’s final against seventh-seeded Dinara Safina.

“It really helped me that it started raining because I was able to go in the locker room and talk to my coach,” Cibulkova said. “It wasn’t easy to talk to my coach because he was really mad. Then I realised that if I start to play my game, to put more pressure on her, to step in the court, then I have a chance to play against her and to win this match.”

Safina outlasted Victoria Azarenka 6-0 2-6 6-3, in Saturday’s other semi-final.

“She’s a very tough opponent, she proved that this week,” Safina said of Cibulkova. “She beat some very good players. But it’s another match. I just want to focus on myself, playing my game, being aggressive.”

The unseeded Cibulkova has been a giant-killer this week, upsetting world number two Jelena Jankovic, sixth-ranked Elena Dementieva and number 12 seed Nadia Petrova en route to the semis.

This is Cibulkova’s second final. Her other final appearance came this season at Amelia Island, where she lost to Maria Sharapova.

“Winning my first title is still very far yet,” Cibulkova said. “It’s still one match. I’m so excited about this, about my game and that I’m in the final of a Tier I for the first time.”

In the other semi-final, Safina continued the best stretch of her career by bouncing number 11 Azarenka. Safina connected on only 59 percent of her first serves, but won 6-of-8 break points and prevailed in one hour and 45 minutes.

Safina is the younger sister of former ATP number one Marat Safin, but the Russian has succeeded in creating her own identity this season and eventually could find herself atop the WTA rankings.

The 22-year-old won her second title in the last five events played a week ago in Los Angeles. She will be appearing in her fifth championship match in six events.

Since the start of May, Safina is 26-3 – and nine of those victories have come against top 10 players, including a win over former number one Justine Henin en route to the Berlin title.

Safina forged her way into her first Grand Slam final at the French Open with victories over top-seeded Sharapova and number four Svetlana Kuznetsova, before falling to current number one Ana Ivanovic.

Regardless of how she finishes at this Tier I hardcourt event, Safina will ascend to a career-best ranking of seventh on Monday after being as low as 17th in early May.

Coincidentally, Safina had to go through Azarenka on the way to both of her titles this season – she claimed a 6-3 6-1 win in the quarters last week in Los Angeles and a 6-4 6-1 triumph in the Berlin semi-finals.