Conchita Martinez of Spain moved into the finals of the Volvo Open tennis tournament in Pattaya, Thailand, after the tropical heat Saturday proved too much for Evgenia Linetskaya of Russia.
The third-seeded Martinez will face Anna Lena Groenefeld of Germany in Sunday's final after Linetskaya retired because of heat exhaustion with Martinez ahead 6-2, 4-0.
The seventh-seeded Groenefeld earned her berth in the final by overcoming a shaky start to defeat number-eight Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
After erratic play in the first set, Groenefeld raised the level of her play, tying up Pascual with strong groundstrokes to win the match in one hour, 57 minutes.
Some information provided by AP and AFP.
