NUREMBERG, Germany - Andrea Petkovic reached her first WTA final since October 2011 when she upset top-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-3 in the inaugural Nurnberger Versicherungscup on Friday. In Saturdays final, Petkovic will play seventh-seeded Simona Halep, who beat fifth-seeded Lucie Safarova 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. Petkovic and Jankovic both received wild-card invitations into the clay-court tournament. Petkovic was once in the top 10 but the German missed months of action through various injuries and has dropped to 103rd. Jankovic is a former No. 1 who has fallen to No. 16. "I am glad my body has allowed me to play tennis again," Petkovic said. "It was also mentally important for me to play such a match against a top-20 player. Petkovic dropped her serve early in the match but recovered to take the first set. Serving for the match after breaking for 5-3, Petkovic fell into a 0-40 hole, only to see the Serb produce error after error and end the match with a backhand that sailed wide. Todd Helton Jersey Large . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Authentic Custom Rockies Jersey . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. http://www.customrockiesjersey.com/ . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. Wholesale Custom Rockies Shirts . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Rockies Jerseys China . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. It is a crazy year with a crazy finish, and if it happens, this could top it all. Melbourne could play finals, even though it does not deserve to.The Demons are not even ready, although they are growing, but it is the frailty of North Melbourne that has opened the door for them.It was way back at the end of Round 6, at the end of April, that the current top eight first settled as it sits now, and it has not changed since, a remarkable statistic in itself and virtually unprecedented in the AFL.A month ago, observers were saying that it would not change, either, but if results fall a certain way this weekend, Round 23 could end up being a grandstand finish, especially for Melbourne fans.Melbourne needs to win both games, against Carlton this weekend and then at Geelong in the final round, to bridge the two-win gap to eighth-placed North Melbourne. Paul Roos men, of course, needs North Melbourne to lose both matches as well, against Sydney in Hobart this week and Greater Western Sydney in the final round.Percentage would then decide eighth place. At the moment, the gap is 3.7 percent, which equates to about 10 goals, a quite manageable number.That North could win nine consecutive games to start the season yet potentially lose its place in the finals is an indictment on the Roos. Certainly they have had injuries to key players, notably Shaun Higgins and Jarrad Waite, but it suggests that the streak at the start of the year was something of a mirage.Right now, North is 3-8 since that first nine rounds, has lost the last two in a row and could quite possibly limp into the finals on a streak of four straight defeats. Again, this would be close to unprecedented.That Brent Boomer Harvey could escape his whack at Sam Mitchell at the MCG last week with a fine ssuggests the match review panel might have taken pity on Brad Scotts team.dddddddddddd They have been witheringly poor since the first two months of the season, and Harvey should have been suspended, for sure.As for the Dees, they are headed into a bright, new future without Roos, who did a sensational job of rebuilding the team and who will walk off into his own future leaving Simon Goodwin all the glory of a burgeoning list. Roos focused on culture while his list management team did their own work, and he has shown what a great coach he is.He is a holistic coach who fosters strong leadership among the playing group then allows them to take ownership of discipline, leaving him to set the playing style.His mantra is defence-first and this was the building block for Melbourne, as he said all along. This season in adding an attacking edge the Demons have jumped to 10th in scoring (compared to 16th in 2015), and their ball movement is quick and exciting at times. A 10-10 win-loss record is the result, including a groundbreaking win over Hawthorn a couple of weeks ago as the stand-out.Still, Melbourne is only 2-5 against top eight teams, which shows that there is still a gap.As much as it will set the football world alight if the Demons can pull off two wins to reach the finals, it might not even be the best thing for the club. Potentially, a finals appearance and a quick exit could lure the players and coaching staff into thinking that more ground has been made than is actually the case.A near-miss, on the other hand, might just drive Melbourne forward again in 2017. Whichever way it falls, Melbourne is a stock worth buying. ' ' '