By Chris Oddo | Friday May 10, 2019 Kiki Bertens powered past Sloane Stephens to set a popcorn final with Simona Halep in Madrid. Photo Source: Julian Finney/Getty Kiki Bertens continues to prove her mettle on red clay and looks more like a true Roland Garros contender with each passing week. On Friday in Madrid the 27-year-old Dutchwoman notched a 6-2 7-5 victory over Sloane Stephens to improve to 4-1 against the Top 10 this season and 9-2 on the clay. Bertens, who upset No.2 Wozniacki and No.7 Garcia en route to the 2018 final in Madrid, has defeated Katerina Siniakova, Jelena Ostapenko, Anastasija Sevastova, Petra Kvitova and now Stephens, all in straight sets. Against Halep in the final, whom she owns a 2-3 lifetime record against, Bertens will bid to become the first women to win the Madrid women’s singles title without dropping a set. Kiki Bertens is back in the final @MutuaMadridOpen. - Earns 1st win over Sloane Stephens, saving 8 of 9 BPs - Broken just once vs. Stephens and Kvitova - Has yet to lose a set - Can make her Top 5 debut with the title.https://t.co/s024gGumDT pic.twitter.com/Z5UwpV5XTQ — WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) May 10, 2019 Earlier on Friday Halep knocked off Belinda Bencic, 6-2 6-7(2) 6-0. Bertens needed just 1:29 to earn her first career win in three tries over Stephens. She saved eight of nine break points and rallied from a break down (4-2) in the second set.<doc-sep>Struggling to find the right form in 2019 so far, world no. 8 Sloane Stephens is through to her first semi-final since October last year and WTA Finals after a rock-solid 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Petra Martic. The match lasted an hour and 19 minutes and, unlike at the Australian Open, Stephens had the upper hand all the time, landing 83% of the first serve in and getting broken once to put Martic under pressure. The Croat gave away 45% of the points behind the initial shot, playing against nine break points and defending six of those to offer Sloane the decisive advantage. The first important moment came in game six when Petra netted a forehand to suffer a break, pulling it back in the very next game after a costly double fault from the American. Fending off four break points in game eight, Martic prolonged the set until the next time she served, with Stephens who painted a backhand down the line winner for a 6-4 after 39 minutes. Sloane saved a break point at the beginning of the second set and it was all about her in the remaining games, securing a break at 2-1 with a backhand crosscourt winner and moving over the top with a hold in game nine after another backhand winner. The last quarter-final match of the day also lasted for an hour and 19 minutes and it saw Kiki Bertens dethroning Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3 for the fourth semi-final of the season. Back in Stuttgart, Petra prevailed against Kiki with a strong performance in the deciding set but she stood no chance today, losing ground on serve completely for the third loss in six matches against the Dutch. Bertens erased six out of seven break points and the Czech was nowhere near that pace, making too many errors and dropping half of the points behind the initial shot to suffer five breaks and propel Kiki into the semis. A left-hander sent a backhand long in game five to lose serve for the first time and Bertens added more fuel to that with a drop shot winner at 4-2 that pushed her further in front. Kiki held at 15 in game eight with a forehand drive-volley winner, claiming the opener 6-2 in 34 minutes and building momentum before set number two. There, the 7th seed opened an early lead with a powerful forehand that drew an error from Petra who broke back in game six to love the score at 3-3. Still, it wasn't to be for her on Thursday in Madrid, dropping the last three games and allowing Bertens to march into the semi-final for the second straight year in the Spanish capital after a forehand down the line winner in game nine.<doc-sep>
The last year's Madrid finalist will have another chance to fight for the title in the Spanish capital, defeating the 8th seed Sloane Stephens 6-2, 7-5 in an hour and a half for the 11th WTA final and the second of the season. The Dutch scored the first win over the American in three meetings, playing better on both the first and second serve and fending off eight out of nine break points to mount the pressure on Stephens who competed in the fourth semi-final on the European clay. Playing against ten break points, Sloane got broken four times, wasting three set points on the return in the tenth game of the second set and dropping the last three games to propel Kiki into the title match. Bertens broke in the very first game of the encounter when she forced an error from Stephens, repelling four break points in the next game to cement the lead and settle into a fine rhythm. A forehand down the line winner sent Kiki 4-1 up after 20 minutes and she closed the opener with a hold in game eight after 34 minutes. After five good holds in set number two, Stephens drew first blood in the sixth game with a backhand down the line winner, only to waste the advantage in the very next game after a double fault, bringing Kiki back to the positive side of the scoreboard. Facing an ultimate challenge, the Dutch managed to stayed focused and save three set points at 4-5 to build the momentum and confidence, scoring a break in the next game after a backhand error from Sloane and wrapping up the triumph on own serve following another backhand mistake from the American, moving a win away from the place in the top-5 for the first time.