Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova fought back to defeat fourth seed Jelena Jankovic and reach the final of the Dubai Championships.
The Russian recovered from dropping the opening set to win 5-7 6-4 6-3.
Kuznetsova held her nerve in the final set to close out a marathon two-and-three-quarter hour match.
She will meet compatriot and eighth seed Elena Dementieva, who beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone 5-7 7-5 6-2, in Saturday's final.
"In the first set I was playing the right shots but at 5-3 I lost concentration and let her get back," said Kuznetsova.
"The same happened in the second set when I got to 3-0. I let her get back.
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"I tried to change that and as the match went on and on I went better and better. In the third set I served better too."
Jankovic said: "Match by match I felt better and better and even though I lost this match I felt that I was going the right way.
"As long as I can play without pain that's all I ask as a tennis player."
And the Serb added that she is still on the lookout for a coach.
"I don't want to be alone any more," Jankovic said. "But I have a lot of room for improvement.
"I believe that if I have a good coach with a lot of knowledge who can put me on the right path I can really reach my full potential and do really great things in tennis.
"I would love to find the person to do this but it's difficult to find the right person."
In the second semi-final, despite trailing 3-5 in the first set, Schiavone - who sensationally ended Justine Henin's four-year unbeaten run in the tournament - took the early initiative by winning four successive games to claim the set.
But world number 11 Dementieva began to impose her authority and closed out for the match without too many difficulties.
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