Robson reaches Guangzhou final

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.

Robson, 18, said on wtatennis.com: "I'm feeling good, I played well. Sorana is a really tough player to play because she plays so aggressive and hits so many winners.

"I kept trying to take the ball early to take the time away from her and give me more of a chance in the rallies."

No British player has won a WTA Tour event since Sara Gomer in Aptos in 1988, but Robson knows she has her work cut out to emulate her countrywoman.

Hsieh, ranked 21 places higher than Robson at world number 53, has an unorthodox game and won their only previous meeting in qualifying in Osaka last year.

Robson said: "She plays quite differently from most of the players and I need to be ready for this. I played her once before last year in Japan and I lost and all through the match I could never tell what shot she was going to hit next."