Safina faces Dementieva in German Open final

GOOD SHOW: Russia's Elena Dementieva reacts during her semi-final match against Ana Ivanovic from Serbia.

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Berlin: Dinara Safina of Russia booked a place in the German Open final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over unseeded Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka on Saturday.

The 22-year-old 13th seed has beaten world No. 1 Justine Henin and eight times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams this week and will play fellow Russian Elena Dementieva in Sunday's final.

Dementieva won her match against Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the final.

Safina, younger sister of former men's No.1 Marat Safin, faced a stiff challenge from 18-year-old Azarenka in the first set, losing her serve twice in the sunshine at the Steffi Graf Stadium.

But the Belarussian appeared to be struggling with a knee injury in the second set, which severely hampered her movement, and Safina cruised to victory in just under 1-1/2 hours.

It was her first match against Azarenka, who has had her best run at a tier one event in Berlin and will break into the top 20 for the first time when the rankings are updated.

Dementieva had won all three of her previous meetings with World No. 2 Ivanovic, a finalist at the French Open last year. But Saturday's match was the first time the two were playing against each other on clay.

Ivanovic needed to reach the final to hold on to her world No.2 ranking but now Russian former No.1 Maria Sharapova has overtaken her.