Tennis-Pavlyuchenkova gets past Kerber, advances to Tokyo final

TOKYO (Reuters) - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withstood a furious rally to beat Angelique Kerber 6-0 6-7(4) 6-4 on Saturday and book her spot in the Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo. The match appeared headed for a blowout after the 26-year-old Russian, vying for her third title this year, took the first eight games against the former world number one. However, Kerber dug in and broke Pavlyuchenkova's serve in the third game of the second set before the 29-year-old German forced a tiebreaker and stole the second set. A rattled Pavlyuchenkova dropped the first three games of the final set but regained her composure to win six of the final seven and notch the victory. "It was a lot of drama," a relieved Pavlyuchenkova said in a courtside interview. "I actually didn't expect I would start so good today and I was playing really good tennis." Going into Saturday's match, Kerber held a 5-4 edge in career meetings but Pavlyuchenkova had won their most recent clash, the final of the Monterrey Open in May. "It's never easy with her," Pavlyuchenkova said. "It was a great match. I'm really happy to be in the final." Kerber said she struggled to find her feet at the start of the match. "In the first set I was completely not in my rhythm, not in my game, and she started very well," she told reporters. "I tried to turn it around and I won the second set. So in the end, it was still a good match.” Pavlyuchenkova will face either world number one Garbine Muguruza or defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday's final. (Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Peter Rutherford)