Dementieva eyes another title at Malaysia Open

Elena Dementieva, the Beijing Olympic gold medallist, is ready to claim another singles title at the Malaysian Open after a 6-1, 6-3 win in the semi-finals Saturday over Austria's Sybille Bammer.

Top seed Dementieva of Russia will meet compatriot Alisa Kleybanova on Sunday in the final. Kleybanova defeated Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-4, 6-1 in 76 minutes. It will be her first WTA final.

Dementieva has played consistently throughout the tournament, which saw the favourite, China's second seed Li Na, knocked out in the first round.

The 28-year-old Dementieva put a lot of pressure on Bammer to win points and varied her game with lobs and slices to crush the Austrian player.

Bammer was assertive in the second set, during which play was suspended for 55 minutes due to a storm.

Following title wins in Sydney and Paris, Dementieva kept her focus despite 29-year-old Bammer's challenge and collected crucial points with lethal serves.

"I am so happy to be in the final. I will try (to win). It will be an exciting match and its going to be a tough match," she told reporters.

Dementieva, who is chasing for her third win for the year, praised the 21-year-old Kleybanova.

"She is young and talented. She has a huge serve," she said, adding that the two have not played each other before.

Fourth seed Kleybanova said she had a tough time taming Morita in the first game but her serves helped her collect points.

"The first set was difficult as she is a fast, powerful and aggressive player. She didn?t make it easy for me and I was not feeling 100 percent at the start," she told reporters.

"I?m happy that I played the important points well as she was winning her service games quite easily.

"In the second set, I played much better and more relaxed and understood what I had to do," she added.

Kleybanova, who is ranked 29, said she will try to beat seventh-ranked Dementieva in the finals and attempt to break into the top 20 this year.

"I'm not thinking too much about tomorrow?s final. I will go out and aim for one point at a time. It is never easy in the final and I will give my best and fight for every point, like I always do," she said.