Flipkens, Halep advance to WTA final in the Netherlands

S'HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands, June 21 (UPI) -- Simona Halep gained her second consecutive WTA final with a win Friday and will meet Kirsten Flipkens for the title of the Topshelf Open in the Netherlands.

Halep won her first WTA championship a week ago in Germany. She had been 0-3 in WTA finals before beating Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 6-3 for the Nurnberger Versicherungscup championship.

She gained her fifth finals appearance with a 6-3, 6-2 win Friday over third-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro in a brisk 61 minutes, converting

seven of her eight break-point chances.

Halep, even though she lost her own serve three times, controlled the match on both ends of the court, winning 59 percent of the points while serving and 59 percent off Suarez Navarro's serve.

Flipkens, the No. 4 seed, needed only 60 minutes to dispatch Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 6-1. Flipkens dropped eight points in five games serving in the first set and seven over three games of the second.

Flipkens is in her second WTA title match. She won a tournament in Canada last September.

Halep has won both the previous meetings against Flipkens.