Never has Carla Suarez Navarro won a title at the WTA level, despite steadily improving results on all surfaces.  The diminutive Spaniard has cultivated a reputation as a clay specialist, ilke most players from her nation, but she has become a worthy competitor on hard courts as well since the start of 2013.  In an example of her tenacity, Suarez Navarro never has lost a match that has reached 6-6 in the final set.

This top-20 woman would welcome the chance to score her first career title close to home at the Portugal Open.  Holding the top seed there, Suarez Navarro has not lost a set through four matches and has lost more than two games in only two of eight sets.  She faced a stern test in the first set of her semifinal against Irina-Camelia Begu, but she edged the Romanian qualifier in a tiebreak and then romped through the second set.  Almost as impressive this week, however, is Suarez Navarro's opponent in the final.  

A champion at Roland Garros in 2009, Svetlana Kuznetsova had not reached a clay final since then.  In fact, Kuznetsova had not reached a final anywhere in more than three years before plowing through the Portugal draw.  While she has not won most of her matches as emphatically as Suarez Navarro has, the Russian has conquered more challenging foes, including two seeds.  The battle of her inside-out forehand against Suarez Navarro's graceful backhand will intrigue in Saturday's final.

In the Portugal men's draw, top seed Tomas Berdych has not surged to the weekend with the dominance of Suarez Navarro.  The Czech ball-bruiser needed to rally from losing the first set to qualifier Leonardo Mayer on Friday, and he even trailed midway through the third set.  Berdych will meet Victor Hanescu in a semifinal after the veteran, a compatriot of Begu, ended the fairytale run of local wildcard Gastao Elias.  

But Berdych at least survived to play another day, as second seed Milos Raonic could not.  This top-10 man wields one of the most powerful serves in the ATP, so his matchup against the light-hitting Carlos Berlocq would have been a mismatch o a hard court.  On clay, by contrast, the Argentine's superior clay expertise led him to a straight-sets upset over the Canadian, who served just six aces and saved only two of six break points.  Opportunity will knock for Berlocq in a semifinal against qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who blitzed third seed Marcel Granollers for the loss of just three games.  This series of upsets has left Berdych as the only men's seed remaining in the Portugal draw.

The same cannot be said of Munich, where each of the top two seeds has marched into the semifinals.  Fabio Fognini recorded a second straight routine victory on Friday, perhaps surprising for fans aware of his propensity for drama.  Defending champion Tommy Haas kept his compatriots on the edge of their seats by riding a three-set rollercoaster against dirt devil Andreas Seppi.  But this battle of veterans had a happy ending for the German fans in Munich.  

Both Fognini and Haas will face a qualifier in the semifinals after a week exceptionally kind to underdogs.  Do Jan-Michael Struff and Martin Klizan stand a chance of upsetting a Sunday rendezvous between the top two seeds?  Watch Munich on Tennis Channel tomorrow to find out.