Greece’s Maria Sakkari will face Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
Sakkari booked a spot in her first final of the season as she scratched and clawed her way past Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 in an outstanding semifinal competition.
Kontaveit levelled seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4 in the second semifinal to also reach her first final of the year.
Sakkari was forced to win one of the longest matches of the year in 3 hours and 4 minutes to move into her fourth career WTA singles final.
The World No 7 has confessed her love for the St Petersburg tournament, where she reached the last four in 2018.
It took an intense battle but she has now bettered that performance.
“It was a very tough match,” Sakkari said afterwards. “I think Begu played really, really well. The level of the match was super-high. I had to come up with some very tough shots and very physical tennis, but I’m very glad I did it, and I’m super excited to be in the final here.
“As I mentioned on the court, it’s one of my favourite tournaments, so I’m just very excited that I was able this year to reach the final. I still have one more match to go, and I’m going to try my best to win the tournament.”
