Mladenovic into St. Petersburg final

Kristina Mladenovic fought back from a set down to beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva and reach the final of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.

In a match with frequent breaks of serve, Mladenovic served particularly poorly in the first set but dominated Vikhlyantseva, the world No.115, in the second and third to win 4-6 6-2 6-2.

Mladenovic, who is ranked 51 in the world is seeking a first career WTA title in her fourth final appearance.

The 19-year-old Vikhlyantseva's run to the semi-finals means she will break into the top 100 for the first time when the rankings are updated on Monday.

Mladenovic will play either second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia or Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in Sunday's final.