Third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has advanced to the final of the Istanbul Cup with a 7-6 (1), 2-6, 7-5 win over Australian Jarmila Groth. She will play fellow Russian Elena Vesnina, who upset sixth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany, 1-6, 6-0, 7-6 (2) in Saturday's other semifinal.
