Bencic to meet Vinci in St Petersburg final

Roberta Vinci booked her first WTA final appearance since the US Open on Saturday with a straight sets victory over Ana Ivanovic at the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.

The number two seed – who had lost her last two semi-finals in Wuhan and Zhuhai – started slowly but recovered impressively to make the final in under 80 minutes.

Ivanovic began brightly and won the opening three games, but Vinci picked herself up and marched into a 1-0 lead, with a crucial break in the 11th game enabling her to serve for the set.

The Italian continued her strong showing in the second, Vinci's serve working well as she completed a 7-5 6-4 triumph.

She will meet rising start Belinda Bencic in Sunday's final after the 18-year-old overcame an injury-troubled Daria Kasatkina 6-4 6-3.

Her comfortable win ensures Bencic will move into the top 10 for the first time on Monday, the top seed hoping to reach that milestone with the third title of her fledgling career.

After a tight start to the match had seen both players create and then waste chances to break, Bencic eventually seized control and sealed the first set with a service game to love.

She maintained her control in the second and after Kasatkina had received treatment on her back, Bencic converted a fourth break of the match to progress.