Maria Sharapova defeated third-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 7-5 7-5 on Saturday to reach the final of the Linz Open, the Reuters news agency reports.

The top-seeded Russian will be bidding for her fifth title of the year. Victory by Sharapova effectively ended Schnyder’s hopes of joining the eight-player field for the WTA Championships that takes place in Madrid next month.

Sharapova’s opponent in the final will be second seed and defending champion Nadia Petrova of Russia, or fourth-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova, who were playing later on Saturday.

It was largely a forgettable match, despite the closeness of the score. Schnyder did manage to move Sharapova around well but neither player managed to find rhythm or consistency.

Sharapova took an early lead, breaking for 2-1. But, as she did twice in her quarter-final win over Ana Ivanovic, she failed to serve out the set at her first opportunity.

After failing to convert three set points on Schnyder’s serve at 5-3 she lost another on her own serve before Schnyder broke for 5-5.

Sharapova, however, broke again for 6-5 when her opponent hooked a backhand long, but had to hold off a break point before clinching the set on her sixth set point.

Sharapova immediately lost her own serve after breaking for 1-0 in the second set, but then broke again for 6-5 when Schnyder netted a forehand.

Double-faulting on her first match point, Sharapova finally took the match on her third with an ace.

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