Sugiyama, Petrova through to final
GOLD COAST, Australia (Reuters) -- Japan's Ai Sugiyama and Russia's Nadia Petrova will meet in Saturday's final of the Australian women's hardcourt championship after winning their semifinals on Friday.
Top seed Sugiyama recovered from a second set lapse in concentration to beat Australian wild card Samantha Stosur 7-5 3-6 6-3.
Petrova defeated defending champion Nathalie Dechy of France 7-6 6-4.
Sugiyama, who climbed into the world's top 10 for the first time at the end of last year, is striving for her second Australian women's hardcourt title after previously winning in 1998.
Petrova, seeded second, is chasing her first senior title. The Russian had to qualify for last year's Gold Coast event but made rapid strides to finish the year ranked 12th in the world.
"I was serving unbelievable serves and she was still getting them. She (Dechy) played a very good match," Petrova told reporters. "Hopefully if everything goes my way I'll get my first title."
Daniilidou through to Auckland final
Eleni Daniilidou of Greece won a first set tiebreaker 15-13 on her way to a 7-6 6-4 win over top seed Paola Suarez of Argentina in the semifinals of the Auckland Classic.
Daniilidou, the defending champion, faces American Ashley Harkleroad, who beat Marion Bartoli of France 3-6 6-4 6-1.
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