Alison Riske, Jaqueline Cristian to meet in Linz final after injury-struck semis

Upper Austria Ladies Linz semifinals on Thursday saw Alison Riske progress via retirement over Danielle Collins, and lucky loser Jaqueline Cristian advance to her first WTA final after a knee injury forced Simona Halep to withdraw.

The injury-struck day saw number two seed Simona Halep withdrawing from the Linz due to a left knee injury she sustained during her quarterfinal victory over Jasmine Paolini.

"Unfortunately I am not able to play in my semifinal after injuring my knee in my match yesterday. I would do anything to be able to play, but it is swollen and painful and playing will only make it worse. I want to say a huge thank you to the tournament and fans here @WTALinz," Simona Halep tweeted.

Halep's streak of winning at least one WTA title every year between 2013 and 2020 has now ended.

Jaqueline Cristian instead advances to her first WTA final. Cristian will face number eight seed Alison Riske, who moved into her 11th career final and second of the season after Danielle Collins retired due to a right shoulder injury after losing the first set 7-5.

( With inputs from ANI )

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