By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, April 25, 2015

Three match points proved evasive, but Caroline Wozniacki refused to let a shot at the final slip from her grip.

Defending brilliantly and playing bolder tennis on the final points, Wozniacki subdued Simona Halep, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, in an entertaining two hour, 58-minute Stuttgart semifinal.

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The victory sends Wozniacki into her first-clay-court final in four years.

Wozniacki won only one clay-court match last season. Now, she's one win from her first clay-court title since 2011 when she won Brussels.

The fourth-seeded Dane will play 14th-ranked German Angelique Kerber in Sunday's final. Kerber broke serve six times ending 43rd-ranked American Madison Brengle's run with  a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

The 27-year-old Kerber is bidding to become the first German to win Stuttgart since Julia Goerges defeated Wozniacki in the 2011 final. Kerber, who beat Madison Keys to in the Charleston final earlier this month, extended her clay-court winning streak to 10 matches.

French Open finalist Halep carried an 8-1 record in three-setters onto the court playing four her fourth final in six tournaments this season. Ultimately, Wozniacki wore the world No. 3 down with fitness, feistiness, her quick court coverage and a willingness to flatten out some shots at crunch time.

The former world No. 1 fought off 15 of 19 break points, saving all five break points she faced in the first set and staving off six of seven break points in the last set.

Halep earned break points in the opening game, but Wozniacki's slice serve down the middle was a weapon in denying them. Three straight solid holds helped the Dane establish a 6-5 lead.

Attacking behind a diagonal backhand, Wozniacki earned set point in the 12th game. Halep punished a short return with a forehand winner to save it.

Wozniacki's resourcefulness on the run earned her a second set point. She shoveled a defensive backhand slice that sputtered low near Halep's ankles, coaxing a netted forehand. Trying to change direction down the line, Halep found the net with her backhand as Wozniacki took the set with a loud "Come on!"

Wozniacki served 80 percent and hit four of her six aces in the opener. Halep hurt her cause with 22 unforced errors, including several trying to drive her forehand down the line.

After a brief bathroom break, a re-energized Halep returned to the court and broke for the first time to start the second set. She backed up the break at love for 2-0. Halep extended the lead to 3-0 when her backhand drive tangled with the top of thet net and plopped over.

Grinding away from the baseline, Wozniacki broke at love then saved break points holding for 2-3. In the eighth game, Wozniacki's legs and grit were on display as she ran down a drop shot, retrieved a lob then raced forward to reach another drop shot, spinning a forehand pass up the line to break back for 4-all.

A costly double fault followed by a Halep backhand winner down the line saw Wozniacki lose the lead and serve in the 11th game. Punctuating a 17-shot rally with a backhand dagger down the line, Halep broke for 6-5. Halep is at her best straddling the baseline, but she showed a willingness to move forward and some fine net skills serving out the set.

Facing double break point, Halep dodged the first break when Wozniacki missed a forehand return down the line and saved the second with a soft backhand volley. She saved a third break point before closing the set when Wozniacki's diagonal forehand return missed the mark.

Playing more assertive tennis, hitting sharper angles and driving the ball down the line with conviction on key points, Halep hit 17 winners compared to 10 for her opponent in the 64-minute second set.

Physically-demanding corner-to-corner rallies sparked the start of the third set. Wozniacki withstood three break points earning a demanding hold for 1-0.

Running down nearly everything in sight, Wozniacki applied pressure through consistency. Repeatedly forcing the 5-foot-6 Romanian to play one more ball, Wozniacki began squeezing errors on crucial points. Halep, who appeared to be wearing taping on her back, sometimes stopped to bend over as if feeling both fatigue and strain from the physicality of points.

Wozniacki wisely changed the height of her shots at times, using the high looping forehand to push her opponent back and buy her recovery time, and flattening out her two-handed backhand. The 2011 Stuttgart finalist ran off five consecutive games to take command.

Serving for the final at 5-1, Wozniacki denied three break points and Halep fought off three match points.



Then came the dazzle. Halep hit a forehand drop shot and stood flat-footed at mid-court for a moment employing a Gael Monfils-like fake before darting to her right for a volley then flicking the ball past a lunging Wozniacki. That 22-shot adventure gave Halep a fourth break point. She charged forward blocking a high backhand volley to break for 2-5.

At the two hour, 54-minute mark, Halep hit her first ace of the set to take a 40-15 lead, but Wozniacki amped up the aggression on her swings. A forehand swing volley followed by a heavy two-handed backhand crosscourt brought her to match point number four. Anticipating Halep's serve, Wozniacki crunched an inside-out forehand return to conclude one of her most impressive victories of the season.