Kuznetsova crushes Dementieva

World number nine Svetlana Kuznetsova marched into the Stuttgart Grand Prix final on Saturday, crushing fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2 in just 67 minutes.

The former U.S. Open champion will now meet the winner of the other semi-final between world number one Dinara Safina and Italy's Flavia Pennetta.

Kuznetsova, the fifth seed, was dominant throughout and took more chances than her second seeded opponent who littered the clay court with errors.

"I was more consistent than in my other matches," said Kuznetsova, who had struggled with three-set victories in the first and second round.

"I was extremely focused. I had to dictate because otherwise Elena will play very aggressively," she said in a courtside interview.

She broke Dementieva in the fourth game to lead 3-1 but the world number three immediately broke back with some punishing play from the baseline to level.

The 23-year-old was the riskier of the two, mixing some unsettling sliced forehands with deep crosscourt backhands to break Dementieva again at 5-4, clinching the set on her third set point.

Dementieva, 27, should have broken her opponent in the first game of the second set, being up 40-love but Kuznetsova won five straight points to clinch the game and then race to a 3-0 lead with yet another break.

While the 2008 Olympic champion broke straight back, she handed her opponent a second successive service game with a double fault and allowed her to close out the match 6-2.