Kim Clijsters shunted Sam Stosur out of her path to reach the final of the WTA Championships in Doha yesterday - after being involved in a car crash on her way to the venue.
The Belgian is bidding to win the end-of-season event for the third time, to crown a season in which she successfully defended her US Open title, and recovered from the pre-match accident to beat Australian Stosur 7-6 (7/3) 6-1.
Today she will take on world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the final - a repeat of the 2009 US Open title match - after the Dane followed her on court and powered to a 7-5 6-0 win over Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
Clijsters started the opening semi-final slowly and fell 3-0 behind in the opening set, but she soon began to exercise control over her opponent.
The deficit was quickly recovered. Clijsters saved a set point at 5-4, and the set soon went to a tie-break which she dominated.
Set two was a different story, with Clijsters on top throughout.
She said: "Sam and I have played some tough matches in the past, but today I played well during the important points which is why I won the first set.
"In the second I felt that she dropped her game a little bit and that gave me the chance."
The 27-year-old had earlier revealed on Twitter how her journey to the Khalifa International venue was a fraught one.
She wrote: "We just had a car accident on our way to the courts! So scary... Bob, my manager took the hit...
"We are all okay... Just the car is ready for the junk yard :-)"
A picture posted by Clijsters showed an official tournament car with the passenger door damaged and a wing mirror hanging by a wire.
Wozniacki burst into a 3-0 lead in the opening set of the second semi-final, before Zvonareva, the world No 2, reeled off five of the next six games to seize a 5-4 advantage.
That gave her the opportunity to serve for the set, but Wozniacki broke back for 5-5 and Zvonareva did not win another game in the remainder of the match.
"I was up 4-1 in the first set and suddenly she had two set points," Wozniacki said on court after the match.
"First I want to thank the crowd for supporting me so much today and all week. Without you guys I wouldn't be here."
Wozniacki, who at the age of 20 was the youngest player in the draw, said: "I'm just going to enjoy this moment. I'm in the finals and it's a huge tournament. Tomorrow we'll see what I come up with."
Clijsters and Wozniacki have only played once, with Clijsters prevailing in the 2009 US Open final in straight sets.
* Press Association
