Svetlana Kuznetsova reached her first final in more than three years on Friday with a 6-3, 6-1 semi-final win over fellow Russian Elena Vesnina at the ATP-WTA Portugal Open.
The seventh-seed, who has won the French Open in 2004 and the U.S.Open in 2009, will now face the winner from the match between Spanish top seed Carla Suarez Navarro and Romanian qualifier Irina Begu on Saturday, reports Sport24
Kuznetsova, 28, last played in a final in February, 2011 in Dubai, where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki. The Russian's last trophy was earned at 2010 San Diego.
Vesnina, winner of Hobart and Eastbourne titles in 2013 after losing the first six finals of her career, was completely outplayed in her 73-minute loss.
Kuznetsova struck 27 winners, breaking her good friend on five of 16 opportunities.
But Vesnina, seeded eighth and ranked 33rd, showed resistance at the end, saving four match points on her serve before Kuznetsova finally prevailed. Vesnina fell victim to six double-faults in defeat.
Kuznetsova, who was ranked 71 last year, is now ranked 29th on the WTA list.
