MOSCOW — Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is one match away from retaining her Kremlin Cup title after beating fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina on Friday in the semifinals.
Pavlyuchenkova's serve was patchy throughout and she was put under heavy pressure by qualifier Kasatkina but eventually prevailed to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in just over two hours.
In the final, Pavlyuchenkova will face either Russian two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova or Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko.
In the men's event, second-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain reached the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over France's Lucas Pouille.
He next faces German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who won 6-2, 6-4 against Dutch player Robin Haase.