BERLIN — Elena Dementieva beat second-ranked Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday to reach the final of the upset-filled German Open.
In today's final, the ninth-ranked Dementieva will face fellow Russian and 17th-ranked Dinara Safina, who beat 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-1.
Dementieva took advantage of Ivanovic's forehand errors and fought off a set point at 5-4 in the second set before closing out the match when the Serb missed with a crosscourt backhand.
Dementieva, who ousted fifth-ranked Jelena Jankovic earlier this week, ran her record to 4-0 against Ivanovic.
"It was different playing her here, because I know she was the defending champion," Dementieva said. "She's a great player, but maybe I was better today."
The clay-court tournament began with six of the world's top seven in the field — and 17 of the top 20 — before a string of upsets.
Safina erased a 3-1 first-set deficit against Azarenka to follow up on her wins against top-ranked Justine Henin and Serena Williams.