MOSCOW, Oct 25 Sixth seed Janko Tipsarevic reached his first ATP final by thrashing Ukrainian qualifier Ilya Marchenko 6-1, 6-4 in the Kremlin Cup semi-finals on Saturday.
In the final, the 25-year-old Serb will take on third seed and home favourite Mikhail Youzhny, who outclassed Kazakh qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-1 in another lop-sided match.
Olga Govortsova of Belarus also stayed on course for her maiden title by crushing out-of-sorts Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 6-1 in the women's semi-finals.
Govortsova, 21, faces Francesca Schiavone after the eighth-seeded Italian dismissed Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 6-4, 6-0.
Tipsarevic raced to a 5-0 lead against the world No 190 Marchenko, playing in his first ATP semi-final.
Marchenko put up more of a fight in the second set until Tipsarevic made a decisive break for 4-3 and secured victory three games later.
A handful of spectators saw the women's semi-finals after most of the top seeds were knocked out of the annual indoor tournament in the first two rounds.
Schiavone, however, paid little attention to a sparse crowd at the 12,000-seat Olympic arena, finishing off her 36th-ranked opponent in just over an hour.
World No 67 Govortsova quickly took the initiative by breaking Kleybanova's serve in the opening game.
The 20-year-old Muscovite, who stunned second seed and holder Jelena Jankovic in the previous round, made 39 unforced errors and bowed out after 86 minutes.
Saturday's results (prefix number denotes seeding)
Men's singles
Semi-finals 3-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) 6-2, 6-1; 6-Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) bt Illya Marchenko (Ukraine) 6-1, 6-4.
Women's singles
Semi-finals Olga Govortsova (Belarus) bt Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) 6-2, 6-1; 8-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) bt Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-4, 6-0.
BAGHDATIS THROUGH
STOCKHOLM Home favourite Robin Soderling had to withdraw from his Stockholm Open semi-final on Saturday, sending Marcos Baghdatis through to the final without the Cypriot having to strike a ball.
Baghdatis will face Olivier Rochus in the final after the Belgian outlasted rising Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.
Soderling, the top seed, was unable to play because of an elbow injury.
The world No 10, who is chasing a spot in the season-ending Masters Cup in London, received treatment for the injury during his quarter-final win over Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Results
Semi-finals Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) bt 1-Robin Soderling (Sweden) - walkover Olivier Rochus (Belgium) bt Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3.—Reuters