Kuznetsova reaches French Open final

PARIS: Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova fought through to her first French Open final on Thursday with a dogged 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.

Vaidisova, who had knocked out world number one Amelie Mauresmo and Venus Williams on her way to the last four, controlled a see-saw semi-final for almost two sets and served for the match at 5-4 in the second before choking badly.

The 17-year-old had never been beyond round four of a grand slam before and a stream of unforced errors allowed eighth seed Kuznetsova to win the second set tiebreak 7-5 and then rattle through the decider, sealing victory with an ace.

In Saturday's final 2004 US Open champion Kuznetsova will face either defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne or fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. The pair meet in the other semi-final later on Thursday.