Russian Ekaterina Makarova will meet Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the final of the women's Eastbourne International grass-court event after both caused upsets in the semifinals Friday. Makarova, a qualifier, beat third-seeded Samantha Stosur 7-6 (5), 7-5 and the unseeded Azarenka knocked out eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France 6-3, 7-5. In the men's final, fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain will play eighth-seeded Michael Llodra of France after both came through their semifinals. Garcia-Lopez saved 17 of 20 break points to outlast the unseeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Llodra eased past Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-5 with the help of three consecutive aces to close out the match. Makarova made a poor start against Australia's Stosur, claiming just four of the first 19 points as she fell behind 3-0, 0-40. But she settled and benefited from an inconsistent performance from the French Open finalist, who broke to lead 5-3 but then conceded her own serve at love. Stosur survived two set points at 6-5 before Makarova took the tiebreaker with a winning forehand down the line. The left-hander continued to pressure a subdued Stosur in the second set, breaking to claim victory on her third match point. Despite the defeat, Stosur will climb to a career-high No. 6 when the new rankings are announced Monday. Bartoli, who was overwhelmed by Azarenka's power, has now failed to advance beyond the semifinals for the fourth straight year. Istomin took the first set against Garcia-Lopez after breaking to lead 4-2 and holding off a break point as he served at 5-3. He then broke to lead 2-1 in the second set before Garcia-Lopez staged a comeback, leveling at 2-2 and breaking for 5-3 on his eighth break point of the game. A break for 3-2 when Istomin netted a smash was enough to decide the deciding set. Henin, Tipsarevic advance In the Netherlands, Justine Henin continued her pre-Wimbledon grass-court comeback by beating Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-2 Friday to set up a final against Andrea Petkovic at the UNICEF Open. Petkovic, the German seventh seed, beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-4, in a grueling match that lasted two hours, 35 minutes. The top-seeded Henin capitalized at 2-2 in each set to win the final four games and take the semifinal against fifth-seeded Dulgheru, of Romania, in a match lasting just over an hour. The Belgian has not dropped a set in the tournament, her first on grass since she went into a 20-month retirement before Wimbledon in 2008. The tournament at the All England Club is the only Grand Slam Henin has never won. In the men's draw, Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia knocked out titleholder Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 in a rain-interrupted match. He plays the unseeded Sergiy Stakhovsky, who beat Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-3, 6-4 to enter his first final of the year.
