Tashkent Open: Jovanovski, Knapp to meet in final

Top seed Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia will defend her Tashkent Open title in the final after outlasting local wild card Nigina Abduraimova 6-4, 7-5 on Friday.

Jovanovski, who committed eight double faults to 12, prevailed in a semifinal in which 10 of the 22 games were broken serves.

After foiling the home crowd's hopes of an Uzbek in the final for only the second time, Jovanovski will meet third-seeded Karin Knapp of Italy on Saturday.

Knapp reached the second WTA final in her 12-year pro career by beating Ukraine qualifier Lesia Tsurenko 6-3, 6-3.

Jovanovski won their only previous meeting, in Madrid in May.