WTA

• Russians prevail in Istanbul

  Istanbul, Turkey (Sports Network) - Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Istanbul Cup.

  The third-seeded Pavlyuchenkova earned a 7-6 (7-1), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Australia's Jarmila Groth, while Vesnina rallied for a 1-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) triumph over sixth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany.

  Pavlyuchenkova will play in her second final of the year and her career. She claimed the Monterrey Open title back in March with a three-set win over Daniela Hantuchova.

  Vesnina has never won a WTA crown and is 0-2 all-time in finals. She lost both of her title match appearances last year in Auckland and New Haven.

  Prior to this week's run, Vesnina, who will turn 24 on Sunday, had lost seven straight matches. Included in that streak was a first-round loss to Petkovic at the French Open.

  Petkovic won the first set on Saturday with ease, but Vesnina regrouped and won 25 of the 32 points played in the second set. Each player broke three times in a sloppy third set, but Vesnina dominated the tiebreak and finally finished off the match.

  Pavlyuchenkova and Groth played an evenly-matched semifinal, as the two split the 200 total points contested.

  Vesnina and Pavlyuchenkova will meet for just the second time. Pavlyuchenkova won the first with a three-set triumph two years ago in Bratislava.

  This week's champion will collect $37,000.

  07/31 13:18:46 ET