AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Top seed Flavia Pennetta and third-seeded Yanina Wickmayer will meet in the final of the 2010 ASB Classic after winning their respective semifinals on Friday.
Wildcard Wickmayer was first to book her berth in the championship match with a hard-fought win over Israel's Shahar Peer, 64 75.
The 20-year-old Belgian broke twice for a 4-1 lead in the opener, and although she relinquished one of them held on to take the set. Peer responded by securing another break early in the second set, but double faults helped her opponent equalize and ride home to victory.
"I am very happy," Wickmayer said. "I didn't play my best tennis today.
"I made a lot of mistakes, especially at the beginning of the second set, but I kept fighting each point and improving, and by the end of the second set, I was playing well."
Pennetta had a far easier time of it against fellow Italian and fourth seed Francesca Schiavone. The world No.12 broke her Fed Cup teammate and doubles partner in the third game of the first set and never let go of the momentum, racing to a 63 60 win in 56 minutes. It was the shortest match of the week; the Italian also lost just three games to Dominika Cibulkova in the quarters.
The finalists have met just once previously, with Wickmayer defeating Pennetta in the semifinals en route to the title at Linz last October. To date Wickmayer is 2-2 in finals on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, while 27-year-old Pennetta is 8-9, with both players collecting two titles in 2009.
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The doubles final line-up was also decided when top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber edged No.3 seeds Pennetta and Schiavone, 61 57 108. The co-world No.1s next face Natalie Grandin and Laura Granville, who won their semifinal on Thursday.
