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Seoul - Second seed Karolina Pliskova and American Varvara Lepchenko will battle it out for the Korea Open title after both players rallied to hard-fought victories in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Pliskova, ranked 32 in the world, came back from a set down to beat Russian wildcard Maria Kirilenko 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Czech Pliskova will be hoping it will be fourth time lucky after having lost three singles finals in 2014, the latest against Germany's Sabine Lisicki at the WTA Hong Kong Open last Sunday.
"I feel really happy. I know that I probably might not look very happy, but I almost lost the match, so I'm very happy to be in the final again in two weeks. Hopefully I can win this one," Pliskova said.
Pliskova struggled with her serve during the first two sets, especially in the opening set when she landed just 38 percent of first serves. It improved as the match progressed and she hit eight out of her 10 aces in the final set.
"I was not doing well and I was not serving good but I tried to hold my serve until the end," she added.
Lepchenko, seeded fifth, appeared jaded after her win over top seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in Friday's quarterfinal but recovered to defeat compatriot Christina McHale 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) in another close encounter.
Semi-finals
Varvara Lepchenko (USA x5) bt Christina McHale (USA) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Karolina Pliskova (CZE x2) bt Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
