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Wozniacki and Dementieva set for Tokyo showdown

Caroline Wozniacki is the top seed in Tokyo © Getty Images

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Caroline Wozniacki survived a tough test against Victoria Azarenka to book her place in the Toray Pan Pacific final in Tokyo.

The top seed, who had cruised into the semi-finals, dropping just seven games in her three opening matches, needed the best part of three hours to edge past the Belarusian 6-2 6-7(3) 6-4.

After storming through the opening set, Wozniacki was pegged back in a tight second set, which after eight exchanges of serve eventually went to a tie-breaker, and the eighth seed emerged victorious to take the match to a decider.

In a match in which both players scored more points on return than on serve, it was Azarenka's 12 double faults that proved costly, and despite breaking her opponent seven times, she was unable to hold her serve on ten occasions.

Wozniacki stormed to a 5-0 lead in the final set before being pegged back to 5-4, but the Dane held her nerve and with some aggressive ground strokes grabbed three match points. Victory in Tokyo followed by at least a quarter-final appearance in Beijing next week would see Wozniacki crowned world No. 1 for the first time.

Wozniacki will meet Elena Dementieva in the final after the Russian beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-5. Dementieva banished her demons after she was forced to retire from their French Open semi-final, allowing Schiavone to claim her first Grand Slam title in Paris.

A late break was enough for the 2006 champion to secure the opening set, and after Dementieva twice forged ahead in the second, she was twice pegged back. But a third break sealed a hard-fought victory for the Russian.

Dementieva and Wozniacki have met six times since their first meeting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with three wins apiece.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.