Sofia, Bulgaria – Top seeds Caroline Wozniacki and Nadia Petrova will meet for the Tournament of Champions title after both won semifinal matches on Saturday.
The top-seeded Wozniacki rolled to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in the first match, much to the disappointment of the crowd, before the second-seeded Petrova gutted out a 6-7 (8-10), 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Italy's Roberta Vinci.
Wozniacki began pulling away midway through the first set, turning a 4-4 deadlock into a rout by winning seven straight games. She has won a pair of titles this year, both since a first-round flameout at the U.S. Open.
The Denmark native and former world No. 1 lost to Irina-Camelia Begu at Flushing Meadows, but followed by winning the Korea Open in late September. She then captured the Kremlin Cup last month for her 20th career title.
Wozniacki, who is 2-1 in finals this year and 20-11 overall, will return to the top 10 when the new rankings are released next week.
Petrova, meanwhile, lost a tough tiebreaker to end a 70-minute first set Saturday, then rolled in a 30-minute second with a pair of breaks and picked up the only break of serve in the third to finish the 2-hour, 42-minute match.
The 13th-ranked Russian will try for her 13th career title on Sunday and third of 2012. She won the Wimbledon tune-up in Den Bosch and captured the Pan Pacific Open in September. Sunday will mark Petrova's 24th career final.
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