Wickmayer, Arn to meet in Auckland final

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Defending champion Yanina Wickmayer rallied for a three-set victory Friday and earned a berth in the finals of the ASB Classic tennis tournament in New Zealand.

Wickmayer got by Peng Shuai 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 in a match that took nearly three hours. Wickmayer struggled through nine double faults and six service breaks -- two in each set -- before advancing.

Peng was serving for the match at 5-4 of the second set but Wickmayer won 12 of 14 points to force a third set where she posted three service breaks.

She'll go against Greta Arn in the finals. Arn posted her second upset in as many days Friday, defeating fourth-seeded Julia Goerges 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Arn ousted top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.

Arn battled back from a triple set-point situation in the first set to get to the tie-breaker. She finished off both break-point chances she had in the second set to earn her second career -- but first since 2007 -- WTA finals appearance.

Wickmayer is 3-2 in championship matches. She beat Arn in their only tournament meeting.

The winner of Saturday's title match will take home $37,000 with the runner-up settling for $19,000. Goerges and Peng each won $10,200 as semifinalists.