CHARLESTON, S.C.(AP) Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the finals of the Family Circle Cup, fighting off a furious rally by Elena Dementieva to defeat the tournament's top seed 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.
Dementieva, ranked No. 3, saved three match points in the second set Saturday to force a third set on the green clay.
But Wozniacki, the 18-year-old Dane, was able to close out Dementieva in the third in a match that lasted almost three hours. Wozniacki, ranked No. 12 and seeded fifth, won last week on clay at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
She now meets the winner of Saturday's other semifinal, pitting 16th-seeded Sabine Lisicki, who ousted Venus Williams earlier in the week, and sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France.