Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza overcame a late fightback from Maria Kirilenko of Russia to enter the final in the WTA Hyderabad Open on Friday.
The 18-year-old Indian wildcard turned in an inspiring performance despite carrying injuries on both ankles and her right thigh to prevail 6-4, 7-6(7-4).
Kirilenko, a finalist in the last edition of the tournament, had shocked top seed Na Li of China in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
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Sania will meet Ukraine's Alyona Bondarenko, who made the grade without hitting a ball, as her semi-final opponent, second seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld withdrew.
The German was unable to recover from the knee injury she sustained while partnering Martina Navratilova in the doubles match on Thursday.
"I was very sore when I woke up this morning but once the match starts you really don't want to think about it," said Mirza.
"I don't think I would have played a tournament outside Hyderabad with this physical condition. But I was mentally prepared to play with the pain."
Kirilenko, who was runner-up last year, found it difficult to keep pace with Mirza and was quickly down 1-3 after the fourth game.
The fifth game looked like going according to the Indian's script but Kirilenko broke as Mirza's forehand sailed wide. The Russian then saved two break points to level the set 3-3.
After Mirza won the seventh game on her serve, both players traded breaks, but the Hyderabadi won the tenth game despite two backhand errors to take the set.
High on confidence with a set in the bag, Mirza served out two games with an ace as Kirilenko struggled to find answers to her baseline command. She was quick and made the Russian play a lot more balls than she would have liked to.
But trailing 2-5 and 40-30 in the eighth game, Kirilenko got the stroke of luck she needed, as the ball bounced off the net chord. She seized the opportunity and came back strongly to win four games in a row.
Looking to serve out the game at 5-3, Mirza had put too much pressure on herself and served two consecutive double faults to give Kirilenko the vital break.
The first serve percentage was starting to dip as the 18-year-old Russian found her rhythm to take the set to the tie-breaker.
Mirza was down 2-4 in the tie-breaker, but she won five straight points to clinch the set and match at 7-4.
"I don't know why it is happening; I tend to get myself tight in these situations. But Kirilenko is a good player and she raised her game in the second set," said Mirza.
"It was a great match; the best match I have played so far. I can't describe the feeling of reaching the final here.
"It is like a dream run for me right now. The only thing I am concerned about is the injuries. I think I am really close to peaking and don't want to lose out," Mirza concluded.
On her physiotherapist's advice, Mirza opted out of the WTA tournament in Columbia she was scheduled to play next week.
Her opponent in the final, Bondarenko, has been lucky for two weeks now. In Pattaya, she qualified for the quarter-finals after Serbia's Jelena Dokic withdrew due to injury; this week it was Anna-Lena Groenefeld who had to concede.
Sania has beaten two top-100 players this week (Jie Zheng 61 and Maria Kirilenko 81). Now only the 102-ranked Bondarenko, whom she will be facing for the first time, stands in her way of a well-deserved crown.
