Moscow: World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic overcame a dreadful start to power past holder Elena Dementieva 0-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the Kremlin Cup semi-finals on Saturday.
The top seed will face Vera Zvonareva in Sunday's final after the Russian upset second-seeded compatriot Dinara Safina 6-2, 7-6 in the second semi-final.
Despite the defeat, Safina, 22, will move up a spot to a career-high No.2 in the rankings when the new list is released on Monday.
"The first set was awful. I was just lost on the court," she said.
"I had chances in the second set but she played well. Of course, I'm disappointed to lose today but as a whole, this year has been a phenomenal for me," added Safina, a runner-up at the French Open and at the Beijing Olympics.
Dream year
"At the start of the year I wanted to quit tennis but now I'll be No. 2 in the world. This is just a dream for me and I don't want to wake up from it."
Seventh seed Zvonareva said it would be a special occasion to play in her first Kremlin Cup final on home soil.
"I've played in several finals this year but playing in Moscow is something else," said the 24-year-old Muscovite.
"I know Jankovic has been playing really well but I will not give up without a fight."
Dementieva, seeded third, blew Jankovic off the court in the first set but the Serb returned the favour by taking 12 of the last 13 games to clinch the see-saw encounter that lasted one hour 45 minutes.
Jankovic, who also beat the Russian in the US Open semi-finals last month, said: "I didn't play bad in the first set but Elena was just too good. But I tried to stay positive and wanted to take the initiative from her and dictate the points."
"I must say I'm a bit tired physically as I've played a lot recently but mentally I'm fresh and tomorrow I'll try to win my third title in a row," added the in-form Jankovic, who won titles in Stuttgart and Beijing in the past two weeks.
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Phenomenal Jankovic
Dementieva praised her opponent.
"Her defensive game is just phenomenal," said the Olympic champion.
"No matter what shot you hit, she is able to get to it and hits everything back at you. It seems like she can cover not only a tennis court but a whole football field. Well, she is No. 1 and she played like No. 1."
The Safin family will still be represented at the Olympic sports complex on Sunday after seventh seed Marat Safin reached the men's final without hitting a ball when his semi-final opponent, German Mischa Zverev, withdrew with illness.
The big Russian, Dinara's older brother, will face unseeded compatriot Igor Kunitsyn, gunning for his first title in almost four years.
The former world No. 1 has not tasted success since winning the Australian Open in January, 2005.
Asked if he would have preferred to play the 98th-ranked Zverev, Safin just smiled: "Well, it's always better to get a win without playing so I'm glad I'm in the final."
The 71st-ranked Kunitsyn reached his first ATP final with a 6-4 6-3 victory over 35-year-old Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.
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