World number seven Elena Dementieva will play the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova in the final of the Paris Indoor Open after they both came through challenging semis here on Saturday.
Top seed Dementieva survived a scare against US teen sensation Melanie Oudin, dropping the first set before going through 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Earlier in the day, world number 46 Safarova produced an upset when she knocked out world number 12 and second seed Flavia Pennetta 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to set up Sunday's final date with the 28-year-old Russian.
The Czech left-hander picked up where she left off in Friday's quarter-final, keeping Pennetta on her toes with some emphatic baseline returns.
It was the Italian who made the breakthrough in the tenth game when she rattled an ace down the middle of the court to take the first set 4-6.
But the pressure started to tell in the second set that saw five successive breaks of serve.
Safarova raced into a 3-1 lead, only for Pennetta to break back to 3-2.
But the 27-year-old Italian lost a crucial break point in the fourth game, allowing the Czech to bring the score the 4-2 and hold her serve to the second 6-3 with two set points.
Pennetta never recovered as Safarova powered her way through to win the third and final set, winning 82 percent of the points from her first service.
Safarova explained after the match how she defeated a player who is 34 places above her in the WTA world rankings.
"Flavia is ranked 12th in the world, she's a very good player and still, I was able to stay focused throughout the match. I had to take risks but I did so at the right moments and it paid off."
In Saturday's other semi-final, Russia's Dementieva banished the bad memories of last year's US Open when she lost to the unseeded Oudin.
The Georgia native again showed all the guts and determination from that fairytale run by taking the first set 4-6.
But the world number seven recovered to win the second set 6-3, breaking the teenager's serve three times.
Oudin struggled with Dementieva's return of serve in the third and final set and the tournament's top seed finally sealed the match by winning it 6-3.
"I'm really happy to get through such a difficult match against Melanie and be in the final," the 28-year-old Russian said afterwards.
"She's a great fighter and this was probably the most difficult win of the year for me."
Dementieva has met Safarova, a finalist here in 2007, just once previously in her career. The Russian right-hander beat the Czech in straight sets in the 2005 US Open.
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