Suarez Navarro wins her way to the Miami semis

Carla Suarez Navarro became the first Spanish woman in more than two decades to reach the final of the WTA Miami Masters with her 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Andrea Petkovic on Thursday.

The last Spaniard to play for the trophy at Crandon Park was two-time champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1993, beating Steffi Graf in that final.

Saturday's final against either seven-time winner Serena Williams or world number three Simona Halep will be the biggest career test yet for Suarez Navarro, seeded 12th.

Suarez Navarro, who is now poised to break into the top 10 in the world rankings, converted three of her 10 break point opportunities and was never in serious trouble.

"I played a good match, an important match like this is difficult," said the winner. "I just tried to play my game and enjoy it."

"Playing this final is an important event for me. I train in the off season in hopes of playing a final like this," added the Spaniard, whose only WTA title came in Portugal last year.

"I am playing good, I'm playing good matches here."

...SkySports