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    MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia's Nadia Petrova overcame a groin injury to reach her first Kremlin Cup final with a 6-0 4-6 7-6 win over Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova. In Sunday's final the world number five, who is gunning for her sixth title of the year, will face unseeded Anna Chakvetadze, who upset fourth seed Elena Dementieva 7-5 3-6 6-0 in the all-Russian second semifinal. In the men's event, Marat Safin reached his first final for over a year on Saturday when he beat Russia ncompatriot Igor Kunitsyn 6-4 6-3. Safin, whose last final appearance was in Halle in June 2005 before a knee injury sent his career into a tailspin, will face another fellow Russian Nikolay Davydenko, the top seed, in Sunday's final. "I'm still trying to find my game this week but I'm happy because I reached my first final of 2006 and my first final in Moscow," said Safin, now 65 in the world. "I had been waiting for this moment for such a long time. Davydenko is a solid Top 10 player and hasn't dropped a set all week. I will have to fight hard to win. I am not at my best so he's the favorite." Davydenko enjoyed a 6-4 6-1 win over French veteran Fabrice Santoro to set up the first ever men's all-Russian final here. Injured PetrovaAfter racing through the first set in 36 minutes, Petrova, who has been playing with a heavily-strapped left thigh for the entire week in Moscow, asked for a medical time-out to treat her right leg early in the second. The injury seemed to hamper the fifth seed's mobility as the 17-year-old Vaidisova, who beat top seed and world number one Amelie Mauresmo in Friday's quarterfinals, regained her composure to level the match. The tall Petrova, coming off an impressive victory at the Stuttgart Grand Prix last week, found some reserves in her game in the third set. "I had a problem with my left leg in yesterday's match and I was worried that I couldn't fully recover for this match," said Petrova, who has struggled with injuries this year. "Then, in the second set I injured my right leg. I had so much pain I wasn't sure I would finish the match. I was given painkillers to continue and it enabled me to regain some of my strength in the third set." Petrova wasted six match points in the 10th game of the final set before finally prevailing 7-3 in the tiebreaker after nearly two-and-a-half hours. "I had similar problems in the Stuttgart final but I was able to pull through then. And today I tried not to think about losing because I really wanted to play in the final in front of my home fans," said the 24-year-old Muscovite, who had reached the quarterfinals only once in six previous appearances here. Vaidisova, who was making her Kremlin Cup debut, was satisfied with her performance. "I certainly had my chances today especially in the third set which could have gone either way," said the eighth seed. "A tiebreak is always a lottery. But I'm happy with my game at the moment as I have proved that I can compete with the top players." Chakvetadze, 19, will also be playing in her first final in Moscow after completely dominating the more experienced Dementieva in the third set. She reached the last four without hitting a ball after U.S. Open champion and second seed Maria Sharapova pulled out with a foot injury. |
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Petrova overcame her thigh injury to reach the final of the Kremlin Cup.
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