Anna Chakvetadze will face unseeded Sania Mirza in the final of the Bank of West Classic after the top seed claimed a hard-fought 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-2 victory over third seed Daniela Hantuchova.
World number 35 Mirza, who had already disposed of fourth seed and world number 17 Patty Schnyder and world number 19 and sixth seed Tatiana Golovin in Stanford, secured a maiden WTA Tier II final berth after recording a 6-2 5-7 6-3 victory over eighth seed Sybille Bammer.
Chakvetadze and Hantuchova, seeking her third career singles title after landing the Indian Wells crown for a second time earlier this year, traded two breaks in the opening set to force a tiebreak
Hantuchova stormed into a 5-2 lead and after allowing Chakvetadze to level at 5-5, she recovered to take the first set.
Chakvetadze responded to lose just five games over the next two sets to secure her place in the final.
The Russian claimed her fifth career title and third this season last week at the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati. She has also claimed titles at Hobart and 's-Hertogenbosch this season.
Earlier on Saturday in Stanford, Mirza earned a critical break of the Bammer serve in the third set to take a 4-3 advantage and after holding serve, broke the Austrian again to secure the win.
‘It's a great start to the hardcourt season,’ said Mirza, who was sidelined for two and a half months earlier this year due to a knee injury. ‘I've had great wins here and I'm starting to hit the ball better.
‘I tried to be more aggressive in the third set and play like I did in the first set. I started to feel tired late in the second set and then I re-grouped. It was all mental. I told myself to hang in there and I did.’
Mirza, 20, captured her only career title at the Tier IV event at Hyderabad in 2005 to become the first player from India to win a tour title.
Bammer said: ‘In the second set she was a little shaky, a little nervous. But in the third set she played great tennis. She played deep and I couldn't move her.
‘I was hoping she'd get nervous at the end of the third set, but I lost my serve, she's one of the hardest hitters on the tour. She's improved a lot in her footwork.’
