Upsets continue in Berlin as Dementieva advances to face Safina in final

BERLIN -- Elena Dementieva beat second-ranked Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday to reach the final of the upset-filled German Open.

In Sunday's final, the ninth-ranked Dementieva will face fellow Russian and 17th-ranked Dinara Safina, who beat 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-1.

Dementieva took advantage of Ivanovic's forehand errors and fought off a set point at 5-4 in the second set before closing out the match when the Serb missed with a crosscourt backhand.

Dementieva, who ousted fifth-ranked Jelena Jankovic earlier this week, ran her record to 4-0 against Ivanovic.

"It was different playing her here, because I know she was the defending champion," Dementieva said. "She's a great player, but maybe I was better today."

The clay-court tournament began with six of the world's top seven in the field -- and 17 of the top 20 -- before a string of upsets.

Safina erased a 3-1 first-set deficit against Azarenka to follow up on her wins against top-ranked Justine Henin and Serena Williams.

"This is one of my best weeks ever," Safina said. "If someone had told me before the week I would be in the final, I would have given them half my prize money."

A frustrated Azarenka banged her racket on the court and burst into tears courtside as the second set slipped away against the more experienced Safina, who caught her several times with drop shots.

The teenager's performance will be enough to break into the top 20 in the rankings, continuing an ascent from 92nd at the start of 2007.

Ivanovic was on the court for the second time Saturday after completing a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinals win against Hungary's Agnes Szavay. The match was halted Friday night by darkness.

The Serb's win against Szavay ensured that the German Open would not become the first WTA Tour event in 28 years in which none of the top six seeds reached the semifinals.

Safina was surprised by her back-to-back wins against Henin and Williams.

"When I looked at the draw, I said I will do everything to play Henin," Safina said. "I played well against Henin, then I said, 'One more.' Now everything is going my way."