THE final four of the Open BLS De Limoges have been decided, with reigning champion and number one seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova still alive to win her third tournament in four years. She knocked off Ana Bogdan in the quarter finals, 6-4 6-2 to advance through to the semi-finals to play American qualifier, Nicole Gibbs who continued her sensational run.

Gibbs dropped the first set to Romanian Sonia Cirstea 6-3, but then bounced back to level the scores at a set apiece with a 6-3 set herself. Cirstea showed clear discomfort throughout the game, forced to retire from the match, and subsequently the tournament, handing Gibbs a spot in the semi-finals.

Also in the semi finals is Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich who defeated up-and-coming Swiss talent, Jil Teichmann 6-3 7-5. Sasnovich now meets Belgium’s Greet Minnen in the other semi-final after Minnen won her clash against Russian, Liudmila Samsonova 7-5 6-2.

Alexandrova’s quest to reach yet another Limoges final is up first on the penultimate day of the tournament when she faces Gibbs, while Sasnovich meets Minnen in the second semi-final of the day.

In the doubles, Alexandrova and partner Oksana Kalashnikova survived an epic battle against second seeds, Cornelia Lister and Renata Voracova, 6-4 3-6 16-14. The other doubles semi-final takes place tomorrow with Russian Anna Blinkova and Romanian Monica Niculescu taking on the Spanish duo of Georgia Garcia Perez and Sara Sorribes Tormo.