Bangkok, October 15:

Top-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia rallied from a dismal first set to beat Italy’s Antonella Serra Zanetti 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday and reach the Thailand Open final. The win puts Petrova into her fourth career final and within sight of her first WTA title. Petrova will next face second-seeded Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova, who came back for a hard fought 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 win over third-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina.

Petrova could have gone up 2-1 in the first set but committed several errors to give Serra Zanetti a break opportunity and allowed her to take the lead. The error-prone Petrova could not regain her momentum for the rest of the set.

Their situations reversed in the second set, as Serra Zanetti began conceding errors. She served a double fault to fall behind 2-5 and returned a forehand long to drop the set 2-6. The decisive set was tightly contested until the fifth game, when Serra Zanetti seemed to lose her concentration.

Kremlin Cup

MOSCOW:

Third-seeded Mary Pierce beat Russian teenager Dinara Safina 7-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup. In final, 1998 champion Pierce will play Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, who upset fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-3, 6-1. Safina, 19-year-old sister of Marat Safin, had scored her career biggest win when she rallied from a set down to defeat the top-ranked Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals. Safina led 4-1 in the first set after breaking in the first game, but Pierce hit back to level at 4-all and then won five straight points to triumph in the tiebreaker.

Pierce converted a break point in the second game for 4-1 lead in the second set. She hit two aces in the seventh game to lead 5-2 and then converted her first match point with a backhand winner down the line.

BA-CA Trophy

VIENNA:

Top-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina and defending champion Feliciano Lopez both were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the BA-CA Trophy. Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Nalbandian 7-6, 6-3, while tlird-seeded Radek Stepanek topped Spain’s Lopez 7-6, 7-6.

Ferrero and Nalbandian exchanged breaks early in the first set until the Spaniard broke again and then closed it out on serve. Nalbandian broke for a 2-1 lead in the second, but Ferrero won four consecutive games to decide the match.

Lopez held serve through the second set as well, but succumbed again in the tiebreaker. In other quarter-finals, fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 7-5 to remain the only player in the tournament to have not lost a set.

Ljubicic will play sixth-seeded Tommy Robredo in the semi-finals, after the Spaniard beat Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-1, 6-1, his fourth victory in as many matches against the Frenchman.