Defending Mexico champ Tsurenko reaches final

Acapulco - Defending champion Lesia Tsurenko of the Ukraine advanced to the Mexico Open final, beating third-seeded Daria Gavrilova of Australia 6-2, 6-4 on Friday.

The seventh-seeded Tsurenko will face Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland in the hard-court event at Princess Mundo Imperial. Voegele beat Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to reach her first WTA Tour final.

Tsurenko led 5-0 in the second set before finally finishing off Gavrilova on the seventh match point.

"It was just getting more and more tough in the second set because her defense was just amazing," Tsurenko said. "It was confusing for me and I made a lot of mistakes, probably because I lost some concentration. I'm really happy I finished 6-4 and not getting to a tiebreak."

She won the event last year for her third WTA Tour title.

"I just really like it here," Tsurenko said. "I think all the conditions for the tournament are just great. I know that all the players enjoy it. The surface is great. I like to play on hard courts."

Results in ATP and WTA Mexican Open in Acapulco (x denotes seeding):

Men

Semi-finals

Kevin Anderson (RSA x5) bt Jared Donaldson (USA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Juan Martin del Potro (ARG x6) bt Alexander Zverev (GER x2) 6-4, 6-2

Women

Semi-finals

Lesia Tsurenko (UKR x7) bt Daria Gavrilova (AUS x3) 6-2, 6-4

Stefanie Voegele (SUI) bt Rebecca Peterson (SWE) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)