Caroline Woznizcki Defeated Elena Dementieva In Family Circle Semifinal

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the finals of the Family Circle Cup on Saturday, fighting off a furious rally by Elena Dementieva to defeat the tournament's top seed 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

Wozniacki now meets 16th-seeded Sabine Lisicki, who, after ousting Venus Williams earlier in the week, easily defeated sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-1 in the other semifinal.

Dementieva, ranked No. 3, saved three match points in the second set to force a third in a match that lasted almost three hours on the green clay.

Wozniacki, seeded fifth, was up 5-2 in the second set, serving for the match, when Dementieva broke her at love.

Dementieva then won her next service game, fighting off three match points, and the following three games to force the third set. When she evened the set at 5-5, Wozniacki threw her racket on the court in disgust.

But Wozniacki, an 18-year-old Dane ranked No. 12, prevailed on her fifth match point. Wozniacki is looking for her second straight tour victory after winning last week on clay at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Wozniacki said she was thinking too much about a victory when Dementieva staged her second-set rally.

"I knew I had to close it out and, you know, I was a little bit nervous," she said. "She started to play some really good tennis, aggressive and doesn't make so many errors, and, you know, she wins the set and I'm not so happy about that."

She said she hoped she would not be tired going into the final.

"It hasn't been a factor until now, and I've played quite a lot of matches, so I hope I can pull the last one through," she said.

But it could be a factor in Sunday's final, as Lisicki, the No. 63-ranked German with the blazing serve -- she had one of 125 mph Saturday -- needed only about an hour to defeat Bartoli.

"I don't really care about that. It's a final and, you know, I'm sure everybody wants to win, so we'll both go out there and fight," said Lisicki, who is looking for her first tour title.

The only meeting between Lisicki and Wozniacki was last year at the Australian Open, when Wozniacki won in three sets.

"It was more than a year ago that we played, and I think we have both gotten much better," Lisicki said.

Dementieva said she couldn't overcome a slow start against Wozniacki after she fell behind 5-2 in the first set.

"I just saw too many mistakes in the beginning of the match," she said. "So for me to come back just took a lot of energy, and I wish I had a better start and so it would have been a different game.

"Dementieva has appeared seven times in Charleston but never won. It was the second straight year she was in the semifinals. She made the finals four years ago.