Pattaya: India's Sania Mirza powered into the final of Pattaya Open tennis after defeating eighth-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia here on Saturday.
Unseeded Sania, ranked 126, lost the second set but came back with vengeance in the decider to win 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
Sania had taken out sixth-seeded local favourite Tamarine Tanasugarn on Friday.
Sania and Magdalena were meeting for the first time. The Indian broke the 18-year-old Slovak twice in the first set while getting once broken to take a set lead. But Rybarikova with two breaks in the second set soon made it one-all.
Sania stamped her authority in the final set allowing her eighth seeded opponent to win just one game to win in two hours.
She will play the winner between Russian Vera Zvonareva and Shahar Peer of Israel in the final.
This is Sania's first final appearance since Stanford in 2007 where she lost to Russian Ana Chakvetadze.
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