INDIAN WELLs : VESNINA, KUZNETSOVA TO MEET IN FINAL

In the exciting session, unlikely semifinalists Elena Vesnina and Kristina Mladenovic battled for a spot in the championship match. The Russian, who upset soon-to-be world No. 1 Angelique Kerber and crowd favorite Venus Williams to get to the final four, breezed past the Frenchwoman, 6-3, 6-4.

Vesnina got off to a fast start, racing to a 5-0 lead. Mladenovic took the next three games to make it a set, but the 30-year-old held in the following game to take it.

The second set nearly played out in identical fashion. Vesnina took a commanding 5-1 lead, but on the brink of elimination, Mladenovic rattled off three games to cut it to 5-4. As she did in the first set, the world No. 15 won the final game on serve to advance to the biggest final of her 15-year career.

Vesnina will play two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Kuznetsova beat third-ranked Karolina Pliskova, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2), in the second semifinal.

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