(CNN) -- Jelena Jankovic celebrated her elevation to world number one with a hard earned victory over Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-7 7-5 6-2 in Stuttgart on Saturday to reach the final of the Porsche Grand Prix.
The relief shows as Jankovic wraps up victory against Venus Williams.
The Serbian star will play Nadia Petrova of Russia for the title as she bids for a second successive tournament win.
Coupled with her victory in the China Open, Jankovic's performances in Germany mean she will be in top spot in the new WTA Tour rankings on Monday, win or lose the final.
She will succeed Venus Williams' sister Serena who went out in the first round in Stuttgart and drops ranking points.
Petrova closed on her second Porsche Grand Prix title when she beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4 6-4 in the earlier semifinal.
Jankovic has a broken toe nail on her left foot and got two shots of painkillers to be able to play against the sixth-seeded American.
"I was really fortunate to play," Jankovic said. "I got two injections, they hurt so much I was screaming."
The first set was settled on a lengthy tiebreaker when Williams capitalized on her third set point as Jankovic hit a backhand long.
Jankovic had also wasted a set point in the tiebreaker.
Jankovic squandered a 3-1 lead in the second set, wasted two break points at 3-3, but took the set when she broke again in the 12th game, doing one of her trademark splits to get a ball back down the line.
It was called out but Jankovic challenged the call and the replay showed that the ball had hit the line and Jankovic had tied it up.
The Serb broke serve for a 2-0 lead in the third, staved off a break point in the next game, two more in the fifth game and held for 5-2.
An error by Williams gave Jankovic two match points. She wasted one with an error of her own, but Williams than put a forehand long.
In a match between two unseeded players, Petrova got early breaks in both sets against the 19-year-old Azarenka, who had upset Olympic champion Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals.
"I am so excited to be back in the final," Petrova told the Associated Press.
Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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