Pennetta to meet Wickmayer in Auckland final

By Greg Stutchbury

Auckland: Italian top seed Flavia Pennetta advanced to the final of the Auckland Classic after thumping doubles partner Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-0 in under an hour on Friday.

Pennetta will meet Yanina Wickmayer in Saturday's final after the Belgian beat Israel's Shahar Peer 6-4 7-5 in the other semi-final at the Auckland Tennis Centre.

Pennetta, ranked 12 in the world, outclassed her good friend with a powerful service game while breaking broke her compatriot's serve five times.

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Wickmayer, a wild card into the event after a court last month overturned a one-year ban when she fell foul of the Belgian doping authority's "whereabouts rule", overturned a 0-3 deficit in the second set to reach the final.

The Belgian was also aided in the 11th game of the tightly-fought second set when the baseline line judge ruled a ball in to give her three break points.

Most of the crowd and Peer, however, disagreed, with one patron cheekily yelling out "wake up Nana", though the chair umpire refused to over-rule and the Belgian broke to take a 6-5 lead.

The 20-year-old Wickmayer then seized the opportunity from a visibly frustrated Peer to serve out the next game on her second match point.

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"I didn't play my best tennis. I made a lot of mistakes especially in the beginning of the second set," Wickmayer told reporters. "It was 0-3, it was only one break, but she was really playing better and she had stepped up a level so I knew I had to play a lot better to come back.

"I just kept fighting and playing well every point and while I was making mistakes the points were getting closer so I am really happy with the comeback."