The Beijing Olympic tennis champion Elena Dementieva will meet fellow Russian and doubles partner Elena Vesnina in today's final of the Auckland Classic after contrasting semi-final victories.
Vesnina made her first WTA Tour final with a tough 6-7 6-1 7-5 win over Britain's Anne Keovathong, in which she squandered four match points in the third set.
The top seeded Dementieva, however, had earlier wasted little time in defeating last year's finalist Aravane Rezai of France 6-2 6-2 in just 66 minutes.
It will be the second time the pair have played each other in singles after Dementieva beat Vesnina in three sets at S'Hertogenbosch in 2006.
They also played together in the doubles in Auckland, losing in the quarter-finals.
