Former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters of Belgium and France's Mary Pierce have advanced to the women's finals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York.
The 12th-seeded Pierce overcame a first-set loss and a nagging leg injury to beat sixth seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
The French player required 12 minutes of treatment on her back and right leg after the first set. After the extended break, Pierce came back to win the next two sets and the match.
In Saturday's final, Pierce meets fourth seed Clijsters, who scored a three-set win over top seed Maria Sharapova of Russia, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. Sharapova was able to overcome five match points to win the second set, but it was not enough to beat Clijsters.
Clijsters and Pierce have met twice before with the Belgian winning both matches.
The men's semifinals are also Saturday with world No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland taking on Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and American Andre Agassi facing countryman Robby Ginepri.
