Kuznetsova in Dubai Open final

Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the final of the Dubai Championships by beating Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

She will next play either eighth seed and fellow Russian Elena Dementieva or unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone.

There was little to separate Kuznetsova and Jankovic during a contest that lasted almost three hours.

Second seeded Kuznetsova twice took the lead in the opening set before immediately dropping her own serve. After missing out on a set point at 5-4, she was left to rue her missed opportunity when Jankovic came back strongly to wrap up the first set.

Instead of hanging her head, the Russian responded by jumping to a 3-0 lead in the second. But her advantage was short-lived as Jankovic broke twice to streak 4-3 ahead.

This time it was Jankovic who let her chance slip away as Kuznetsova claimed the next three games.

After an early exchange of breaks in the deciding set, Jankovic visibly waned. Kuznetsova survived three break points at 2-2 and then broke to lead 4-2.

She squandered six match points on the Jankovic serve before serving out to love for victory.

"The match was going longer and longer and I was feeling better and better. I cannot explain it," Kuznetsova told reporters.

"I was far from my best game and it was very important to stay focused because usually when I play her I have so many chances and when I don't use them I get so frustrated.

"Today it was very important for me to get through it. I thought I did it pretty well, and in the third set I just had to stay calm and play my game."

"I have to work a little bit on my conditioning because physically I wasn't there at the end," said Jankovic. "At the end of the second set and throughout the third I had a tough time really using my legs and getting into a shot.

"She was the stronger one today. She was the one who kept the pace up the whole time and I dropped down because of my fitness and physical condition."

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