Jelena Jankovic advanced to the finals of the Toray Pan Pacific on Friday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over China’s Li Na.
Seventh-seeded Jankovic took a medical timeout early in the second set but worked through pain in her right arm to set up a final match against Maria Sharapova, who defeated Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the $2 million tournament.
Li broke Jankovic to go up 2-1 when the Serbian player took a timeout to have her arm treated. Jankovic broke back in the fourth game and never looked back.
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“I started to feel some pain in my arm,” the former top-ranked Jankovic said. “The ball was heavy in this humidity. I received some treatment and tried not think about it and just fight for every point.”
Jankovic has won two titles this year at Cincinnati and Marbella.
“If I can win my third title of the year, that would be pretty good,” Jankovic said. “It’s been a difficult year so it would be nice to finish strong.”
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Jankovic is the highest seeded player left in the tournament.
Top-ranked Dinara Safina of Russia, Venus Williams and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova all lost their opening matches after first-round byes.