Reuters: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withstood a furious rally to beat Angelique Kerber 6-0 6-7(4) 6-4 on Saturday and book her spot in the Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo.
The match appeared headed for a blowout after the 26-year-old Russian, vying for her third title this year, took the first eight games against the former world number one.
However, Kerber dug in and broke Pavlyuchenkova`s serve in the third game of the second set before the 29-year-old German forced a tiebreaker and stole the second set.
A rattled Pavlyuchenkova dropped the first three games of the final set but regained her composure to win six of the final seven games and notch the victory.
Pavlyuchenkova will face defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in the final.
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