Sep 23, 2006, 15:49 GMT
Beijing - Amelie Mauresmo fought past a challenge from sixth seed Jelena Jankovic to reach a final with Svetlana Kuznetsova at the China Open Saturday.
The top seed from France, playing in China for the first time, needed just under three hours to finally dispatch her Serb opponent 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3).
Kuznetsova was happy to get off court in 41 minutes as she hammered China's Peng Shuai 6-0, 6-2.
Mauresmo looked like rolling to an easy win after lifting the first set without problems. But she lost a break in the second set and had to fight through a tiebreaker in the third to finally nail down the win.
The contest was riddled with 32 break points, with Jankovic entering the fray with wins in 15 of her previous 18 matches.
Kuznetsova now has her eye on a second title in Asia after beating Frances Marion Bartoli last weekend in Bali.
'It will be tough, but it's good to play against top players,' said the Russian of her matchup with Mauresmo.
The Russian has won their last two encounters, both this season, after losing the first four.
The 60th-ranked Chinese Peng never had a chance, with Kuznetsova dominating. 'I played smart today and Peng didn't play well,' said the winner.
'I think she was a little bit tired.
She said she felt 'physically good', adding 'In the first set, I tried to make her move, and made some drop shots.'
Peng was the first local to get this far at the home event. She and Sun Tiantian reached the quarter-finals in 2005.
But Peng said a chronic ankle injury plagued her and she was unable to go for her shots after a long week of tennis.
'I'm already very tired, and I was afraid to get hurt again. I have not had a major breakthrough this year like last year.
'But I'm now calmer on court. I wasn't able to fight my best.
'Against a top 10 player that is a disadvantage.'
Kuznetsova now stands an impressive eight wins in a row with a record this season of 54-15.
She won the spring title in Miami and lost the French Open final to Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Kuznetsova could take over the world number 4 ranking from injured Kim Clijsters with another title this week.
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