French Bartoli ousted in semis; Safina in final with Cibulkova

Dominika Cibulkova continued her dream run, and is entering only her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final, finishing runner-up in Amelia Island to Maria Sharapova in a tight two-setter this year.

Cibulkova faced Marion Bartoli for a spot in the final. It was a tough match, but in the end, it was Cibulkova who prevailed in a thrilling three-setter, 46 64 63.

"In the first set I was quite satisfied with my tournament; I just had yesterday's match on my mind and wasn't really focused on this match," Cibulkova said. "The rain delay after I lost the first set really helped me. I went to the locker room and talked to my coach. It wasn't easy to talk to him because he was really mad. I realized if I just played my game, I had a chance to win this match. Then in the second set I played like I should. In the third it was a very high level of tennis."

"Winning my first title is still very far. It's still one match," Cibulkova added. "I'm so excited about this, about my game, that I'm in the final of a Tier I for the first time. I will try to play my best tomorrow. And for sure I will be not satisfied with my week so far, like I was today in the beginning."

The other semifinal match featured No. 7 seed Dinara Safina and No. 11 seed Victoria Azarenka. It was one of the toughest matches Safina has played, but she eventually closed out the match with a 60 26 63 victory over the Belorussian.

"I knew it would be tougher in the second set because, she would try to play better after losing the first set," Safina said. "Me, I slowed down and let her get back into the match. I think I complicated it even more for myself. But I still turned the match around in the third set, and I'm really happy with that."

"As you can see, since the clay court season, she's playing amazing," Azarenka said. "I think she's playing like the No.1 player in the world."

Safina and Cubulkova will be playing eachother for the first time. It should be a tough match, since both players worked hard to get three set victories.

"She's a very tough opponent - she proved that this week," Safina said. "She has beaten some very good players. It's another match for me. I just want to focus on myself, playing my game and being aggressive, and let's see who's gonna be stronger tomorrow. She has her advantages and I have mine; it's going to come down to who uses them better tomorrow."