Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Zheng Jie in a tight two-setter to set up a clash with top seed Jelena Jankovic in the final of the $600,000 China Open in Beijing.
The Russian fourth seed, last week’s runner-up in Tokyo, defeated Chinese crowd favorite Zheng Jie 7-6 (3) 7-5. Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng reached the final four with a triumph over second-seeded Ana Ivanovic.
Kuznetsova leads Jankovic 4-2 in their head-to-head. This year they have met twice, in Dubai and Tokyo, and both times the Russian was victorious.
The 2008 China Open titlist will earn $95,500.
