Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia and Marin Cilic of Croatia advanced to the final of the St. Petersburg Open with straight-set victories Saturday. Tipsarevic beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 6-1 to reach his second final in as many weeks, and Cilic ousted 2004 champion and last season's runner-up Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. Cilic won four consecutive games in the first set for a 5-1 lead and broke Youzhny decisively in the ninth game of the second. He closed it out with a drop shot on his first match point. “It was not a great tennis match from both of us, it was more a tactical game,” Cilic said. The fourth-seeded Cilic will be playing in his fourth final this season. Cilic is 5-1 against Tipsarevic, who won last time in Miami in March. “I think Janko is playing tennis of his life these last three months, but I believe I have good a chance this week and I'm going to be really motivated for the final,” Cilic said. Kvitova to meet Azarenka Czech left-hander Petra Kvitova stormed back from a set down to beat Samantha Stosur 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in a topsy turvy semifinal at the WTA Championships in Istanbul Saturday and is now one win away from collecting the $1.75 million jackpot. The 21-year-old Wimbledon champion, a debutant at the season-ending showpiece featuring the top eight women in the world after rising from 34th in the rankings in January, will face Belarussian Victoria Azarenka in Sunday's final. Azarenka enjoyed a routine 6-2, 6-3 victory over Russia's Vera Zvonareva in the other semifinal and the winner of the title match inside the Sinan Erdem Arena will rise to second in the WTA rankings and will start the new season breathing down the neck of Caroline Wozniacki. “It's amazing how much she's been able to improve,” Stosur, who suffered a third consecutive loss against Kvitova, told reporters. “I think I got beaten by a player who played very well today. .” Tsonga-del Potro final Top seeds Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro set up a mouth-watering final at the Vienna Open after winning their semifinals Saturday to keep up their chances of qualifying for the season-ending World Tour finals next month. “I have not done well at the Masters events and the Grand Slams so this win is important for me,” said Del Potro, after battling to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over South African Kevin Anderson to aim for his third title of the year after Delray and Estoril. Tsonga, the top seed and world No. 9, struggled to beat German qualifier Daniel Brands 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
