Maria Sharapova came through a sticky first set to reach the final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham on Saturday, beating Tatiana Golovin of France 7-5, 6-1.
The Russian top seed, who beat Golovin in the final here last year before going on to claim the Wimbledon title, was wayward in the first set as she squandered a 5-2 lead.
But she recovered her range to steamroll through the second set as black clouds moved in over the tranquil country club in the leafy suburbs of England's second city.
The 18-year-old world number two will face Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic in Sunday's final after she marched through 6-2, 6-2 against unseeded American Laura Granville.
"I'm very happy to be in the final again. This was a much better match than my previous ones this week," said Sharapova, who was pushed to three sets by Samantha Stosur and Eleni Daniilidou earlier in the week.
"I made some sloppy errors and am not serving great, but I'm still adapting to the grass. My butt's aching, my thighs are aching, but that's normal on this surface, it was the same last year."
Sharapova, who has been suffering all week with a cold, recovered from an early break to streak into a 5-2 lead with some ripping winners from the back court.
The 17-year-old Golovin saved a set point and then produced some pinpoint winners herself to break the Sharapova serve before levelling at 5-5.
Golovin saved three more set points when she served at 5-6, but Sharapova finally took her chance, punching the air as Golovin miss-hit a forehand over the baseline.
Sharapova moved swiftly through the second set as Golovin, hampered by an ankle injury and an infection on her foot which required strapping, raised the white flag.
LESS ENERGY
"I wasn't feeling 100 percent, didn't have a lot of energy. That's why I wasn't screaming too much," said Sharapova, jokingly referring to an incident against Daniilidou in Friday's quarter-final when she was asked by the umpire to tone down her trademark grunting.
Golovin, who was born in Moscow but moved to France with her parents aged eight months, said her foot was a worry as she prepares for Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round last year on her debut.
"My ankle was okay, but the cut on my foot was a problem," she said. "I slipped in the second set and the dressing came loose. I'm on antibiotics and just hope it settles down in time for Wimbledon."
Earlier the 20-year-old Jankovic cruised past Granville in 53 minutes. She is still to drop a set here this week.
"I didn't expect to reach the final here," said the world number 20. "I've only played a handful of matches on grass, so this is a surprise."
