Laura Robson became the first British woman to make a final of a WTA Tour event in 22 years after she defeated Sorana Cirstea in the semi-final at the Guangzhou Open. Robson dominated throughout and eased to victory with a 6-4 6-2 win to become the first British woman in a final since Jo Durie in 1990. The 18-year-old Robson went three games up after breaking her opponent early on before taking the first set, with the second a formality despite some late resistance and a break by her Romanian opponent. The victory continued the impressive run of form for the new British number one after she overcame seventh seed Peng Shuai in the quarter-finals, following on from her success at the US Open where she made it to the last 16 after wins over Kim Clijsters and Li Na. Su-Wei Hseih booked her place in the final after she defeated Urszula Radwanska in the other semi-final. The fourth seed dropped the second set but powered back to win 6-1 3-6 6-0 in one hour and 37 minutes. | 
