Ana Ivanovic of Serbia ousted top seed Angelique Kerber in straight sets on Saturday to reach the final of the $US1 million ($A1.08 million) Pan Pacific Open against Caroline Wozniacki.
The third seed charged back from 3-5 down in the first set to beat the 26-year-old German 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals.
Denmark's Wozniacki, seeded second and looking to get over her loss to world No.1 Serena Williams in the US Open two weeks ago, outplayed Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in two-and-a-half hours.
"I started a little bit slow but after the break I tried to get more explosive and moving a little more," Ivanovic said of her second broken serve which put her 2-1 down at the start of the match.
She did not lose any more serves and broke world No.8 Kerber four times altogether.
Kerber said, "It was for sure a tough match. We played great but she (Ivanovic) was able to catch the important moments."
Wozniacki, 24, broke Muguruza's serve five times but lost hers four times in their marathon match.
"I kept fighting. It was a very competitive match," said Wozniacki, who was the world No.1 in 2010 and 2011, now ranked ninth after returning to the top 10 with her US Open performance.
"I just tried to stay in there and in the end I think maybe I had a little bit more energy than what she had."
Muguruza, aged 20 and ranked 26th, beat Wozniacki in their two previous encounters, taking an Australian Open round of 32 clash 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in January.
Wozniacki, the 2010 Pan Pacific Open champion, broke the Spaniard's serve in the 10th game to take the first set after surviving nine break points on her own serve.
But she lost serve three times in the second set and lost the first two games in the decisive set.
Wozniacki rallied back to take six straight games, breaking her opponent three times. An increasingly erratic Muguruza served and shot a forehand wide on match point.
"She broke me at the start of the third. But I knew I was right there. I had just to keep going and I was still believing in myself," said Wozniacki, who has 22 career WTA titles including the lower-tier Istanbul Cup this year.
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