World number one Aryna Sabalenka reached her fourth Stuttgart Open final with a hard-fought 7-5 6-4 win over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
The 26-year-old is targeting a first title, though, having lost to Ash Barty in 2021 and Iga Swiatek in both 2022 and 2023.
Sabalenka held her nerve to take the first set despite almost throwing away a 5-2 lead, before Paolini started strongly to win the first three games of the second.
But breaks in the fifth and ninth games saw Sabalenka fight back to set up a final meeting with Jelena Ostapenko on Monday.
