Carlsbad, United States, 4 August 2013 | tennis.com.au

Sam Stosur has overcome a slow start on Saturday to defeat Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano and reach the final of the WTA Southern California Open.

The Australian, a wildcard into the hardcourt event in Carlsbad, recovered from 4-1 down in the opening set against fellow wildcard Razzano before going on to post a 7-6(2) 6-3 victory.

The win sends Stosur into her first final since Moscow in October 2012.

In the decider she will play top seed Victoria Azarenka, who defeated Serb Ana Ivanovic 6-0 4-6 6-3 earlier on Saturday at the WTA Premier event.

Stosur hasn’t beaten Azarenka in eight previous meetings, but did take her head-to-head against Frenchwoman Razzano to a perfect 6-0, wrapping up victory in one hour and 39 minutes.

The Australian’s serve, which has been awry of late, produced four aces and just two double faults; her first serve winning percentage was an impressive 74 per cent.

While Stosur hasn’t ever defeated Belarusian Azarenka, she’s gotten closer in their past two matches than ever before, taking the world No.3 to three sets in the quarterfinals at both the 2012 US Open and Rome Masters this year.