Agence France Presse

Strasbourg, May 25

Yugoslav star Jelena Dokic reached the final of the WTA tournament here Friday but admitted she had slept through part of the first set of her morning quarter-final match which had been held over after rain stopped play on Thursday.

The 19-year-old top seed edged Croat opponent Jelena Kostanic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 before stepping up a gear in the afternoon to sweep American Meghann Shaugnessy in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals and book a place in the final with the titleholder second seeded Italian Silvia Farina Ellia.

"This morning I had to play early and I was still sleeping a little during the first set," Dokic revealed. "Also my opponent played a tough game whereas this afternoon I played a lot better," added Dokic, who is bidding for her fifth career title and second of the season.

Elia-Farina had a much easier time of it ousting sixth-seeded American Lisa Raymond in the last eight 6-4, 6-0 before defeating veteran Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva 6-3, 6-1 to progress to the final.

"The beginning of the day appeared to be going to be a difficult one with two matches," the 30-year-old said. "But I feel good physically which is good as the final will be difficult against Dokic, who is very strong on clay," she added.