Maria Sharapova beat Tatiana Golovin of France 7-5 6-1 to reach the final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham. The Russian top seed, who beat Golovin in last year's final, squandered a 5-2 lead in the opening set before edging it on her fifth set point.
Sharapova won the second set easily after Golovin injured an ankle.
Third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro will play Sharapova in Sunday's final after beating America's Laura Granville 6-2 6-2.
"I didn't expect to reach the final here," said the 20-year-old Jankovic, ranked number 20 in the world.
"I've only played a handful of matches on grass, so this is a surprise."
Sharapova was pleased with her form after some less than impressive displays during the week.
"I'm very happy to be in the final again," she said. "This was a much better match than my previous ones this week.
"I made some sloppy errors and am not serving great, but I'm still adapting to the grass.
"My butt's aching, my thighs are aching, but that's normal on this surface, it was the same last year."
MMIX
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