PORTOROZ, Slovenia (AP)—Anna Chakvetadze reached her first final in nearly two years, beating local star Polona Hercog 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the Slovenia Open on Saturday.
The Russian will play for the title against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, who advanced to her first WTA tour final when Ksenia Pervak of Russia retired with a wrist injury while trailing 6-2, 1-0.
Chakvetadze won the last of her seven WTA titles in 2008. A Top 5 player in 2007, she’s fallen to No. 103 in the rankings.
“I haven’t expected such a success,” Chakvetadze said, but the final “is a nice reward for my efforts to get back among the best players of the world.”
The seventh-seeded Hercog, playing before her home crowd, said she missed her chances. Besides, Chakvetadze was forcing a quick rhythm, said the only seed to reach the last four. “She didn’t let me breathe.”
Hercog raced through the first set and had a chance to break in the second game of the second, but missed and Chakvetadze ground it out to the end.
For Larsson, ranked 84th, it has been a blissful month: She reached her first WTA quarterfinal last week in Prague, then her first semi and final here in Portoroz.
On her way to the final, she ousted eighth-seeded compatriot Sofia Arvidsson and third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals.
Pervak came into the draw as a late replacement for injured French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.