Medina Garrigues back in Strasbourg finals

STRASBROUG, France, May 23 (UPI) -- Anabel Medina Garrigues earned a shot at defending her Strasbourg International tennis tournament title with a semifinal victory Friday.

Medina Garrigues, seeded sixth, posted a solid 6-3, 6-3 win over Timea Bacsinszky and qualified for her third Strasbourg final in four years. She collected her second Strasbourg title with an upset of Amelie Mauresmo last year.

In 2008 her finals opponent will be fifth-seeded Katarina Srebotnik, who fought through a 6-1, 6-7 (8-10), 6-4 semifinal match with Yung-Jan Chan in qualifying for her first title match of the year.

Srebotnik holds a 3-2 advantage in matches against Medina Garrigues, but Medina Garrigues is 2-1 when playing Srebotnik on clay, which is the surface in Strasbourg.

The winner of Saturday's championship match will collect $28,000.