BOL, Croatia, May 3 (UPI) -- No. 3 Vera Zvonareva, an 18-year-old Russian, beat American Samantha Reeves, 6-3, 6-4, Satuday to move one step closer to her first career title at the Croatian Bol Ladies Open.
She will face Conchita Martinez Granados, who won the all-Spanish semifinal, 6-0, 1-6, 6-4, over Maria Sanchez Lorenzo.
In 2002 as part of her breakout year, Zvonareva reached the quarterfinals of this event as a qualifier, losing to eventual finalist Iva Majoli. She also made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open last season, stretching eventual champion Serena Williams to three sets, and reached her first final at Palmero.
Zvonareva lost that championship match in three hours to Mariana Diaz-Oliva. She should be fresher for Sunday's final after dropping just one set this week and winning her last two matches easily.
By winning her fourth career semifinal, Martinez Granados advanced to her first championship match. A winner of 10 career ITF crowns before joining the WTA Tour, the 27-year-old had lost in the first round of her three prior tournaments - all on clay - but was a semifinalist on the dirt earlier in the year at Bogota.
Sunday's match will be the first meeting between Zvonareva and Martinez Granados.
