Fifth seed Serena Williams [Images], seeking her third WTA title of the year, reached the Family Circle Cup final by beating French teenager Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday.

After recovering from a sluggish start, the powerful American broke 18-year-old Cornet in the eighth game of the second set before holding serve to wrap up victory in one hour 24 minutes.

The 26-year-old Williams next faces ninth seed Vera Zvonareva who upset fellow Russian Elena Dementieva, the fourth seed, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in a wildly fluctuating semi-final.

World number nine Williams, who has won titles in Bangalore and Miami [Images] this year, blasted five aces against her unseeded opponent and converted five of nine break point opportunities.

However, she was frustrated to trail 1-4 in the opening set before mounting her comeback.

"I definitely think I need to get out to a much faster start (in the final)," Williams told reporters.

"I'm playing a tough player. Every day, I've been playing a tough player but it's the finals and everyone wants to win so I'm definitely going to have to start a little faster."

LAST FOUR

Cornet, ranked 40th in the world, had upset 16th-seeded Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek and 10th seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary in reaching the last four for the second straight week.

The French teenager reached the semi-finals on the green clay of Amelia Island last week before losing to Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova.

World number 17 Zvonareva comfortably won the first set and fought back from 0-3 and 2-4 in the second before clawing back to lead 6-5 to serve for the match.

Down 0-40, she fought back to 40-40 before Dementieva broke after clinching the sixth game point.

Although Dementieva swept through the tiebreak 7-2 and again broke early in the third, Zvonareva regained control to wrap up victory in just under two-and-a-half hours.

"It was a very good clay court week for me and even today I had a good match," world number eight Dementieva said after losing to Zvonareva for the first time in three meetings.

"But Vera is really playing well. She's in great shape."