Wild-card Nadia Petrova moves into finals in New Haven with win over Maria Kirilenko

Wild-card Petrova moves into Pilot Pen finals

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Nadia Petrova took advantage of her last-minute addition to the field at the Pilot Pen tennis tournament and moved into the finals with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Maria Kirilenko.

Petrova received the final wild-card entry after Ana Ivanovic (ee-VAH’-noh-vich) withdrew last week with an ankle injury.

Kirilenko broke Petrova twice in the first set on Friday, but said she felt a pain in her back after making a lunge for the ball. She took a medical timeout in the second set and had a hard time moving.

Petrova found her serve in the second set and cruised to the victory.

She will play either top-seed Caroline Wozniacki (wohz-nee-AK’-ee) or No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva (deh-mehn-tee-AY’-vah) on Saturday. The men’s semifinals were scheduled for later Friday.