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Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine reached her first final in four years after the top-seeded Bianca Andreescu retired with a shoulder injury during their semi-final at the Thailand Open on Saturday.
Tsurenko, in search of her fifth WTA title, was leading the 2019 US Open champion 7-5 4-0 when the Canadian called it a day.
"Bianca is such an amazing player. She is capable of hitting all kinds of shots and gave so much trouble today," said the 33-year-old Tsurenko, now ranked 136th.
"But I was just fighting and I told myself positive things that I can do it. Unfortunately, she had to retire."
She will face Zhu Lin of China in the final on Sunday.
"She had some good wins in the Australian Open," Tsurenko said.
"She is one of the dangerous players in this tournament. She is going to give a good fight. "
In Lyon, American Alycia Parks held off Maryna Zanevska in a topsy-turvy semi-final to make it through to her first tour-level final.
Parks will face No 1 seed and French hope Caroline Garcia for the title.
