Yugoslav Jelena Dokic overpowered top seed Kim Clijsters 7-5 6-4 today to advance to the final of the Toyota Princess Cup and a clash with Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario.
Fifth-seeded Spaniard Sanchez-Vicario encountered few problems against compatriot Gala Leon Garcia, winning 6-3 7-5 in front of a crowd of 6,719 at Ariake Colosseum.
Dokic, the number three seed, struggled in the first set but needed only 29 minutes to wrap up the second and reach her second straight tour final after finishing runner-up to Monica Seles at last week's Brazil Open.
The pair traded breaks until the ninth game of the first set when the Belgian finally held for 5-4 as the two 18-year-olds struggled in the blustery conditions on centre court.
Dokic, who won her first career title at the Italian Open in May, broke again for 6-5 thanks to a missed volley from Clijsters and then wrapped up the first set with a big serve down the middle.
Dokic kept Clijsters pinned behind the baseline for most of the second set as she found greater accuracy and depth on her groundstrokes, quickly gaining a double break for a 4-0 lead while her opponent's errors mounted.
Clijsters, the world number five, bravely attempted to dig herself out of the hole she was in at 5-1 down by reeling off three straight games, but Dokic quickly recovered her composure to serve out the match in 71 minutes.
Sanchez-Vicario, who had lost her only previous match against Leon Garcia two years ago, dictated the tempo of the second semifinal in a battle of clay-court specialists.
The four times grand slam champion was never seriously troubled by the unseeded Leon Garcia, who committed a string of unforced errors to assist Sanchez-Vicario to only her second straight sets victory of the week.
Sanchez-Vicario, who is 11 years older than Dokic, holds a 3-2 record against the Yugoslav but has lost their last two matches, most recently a 6-4 7-5 defeat at last month's U.S. Open.