And then, slowly but surely, 2004 champion Kuznetsova began keeping the ball between the lines, and Chakvetadze began missing shots short, long and wide. In full control late, the No. 4-seeded Kuznetsova reached her second final at Flushing Meadows by beating No. 6 Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in an all-Russian semifinal.

"I played the worst first set," Kuznetsova said. "I couldn't put the ball in, and I was really embarrassed by my game."

By the end, though, it was Chakvetadze who was struggling to keep her composure, wiping away tears while waiting to return serves in the final game.

It was Chakvetadze's first career Grand Slam final, and she sure played like it in the last two sets. She completely whiffed on one overhead attempt, swinging right past the ball, and violently threw her racket to the court after another flubbed shot.

Kuznetsova will meet Venus Williams or Justine Henin in tomorrow's final. They were to meet later today, with the top-ranked Henin trying to become only the second woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same Grand Slam tournament. The Belgian eliminated Serena Williams in the quarterfinals but owns a 1-7 career mark against Venus Williams.

Kuznetsova figured to be rooting for Williams in the semifinals. That's because Kuznetsova is 3-3 against her over their careers, and is 2-14 against Henin, including a loss to her in the 2006 French Open final.

Kuznetsova came in with a big edge in experience against Chakvetadze — and that hardly showed at all at the outset.

In the very first game, Kuznetsova missed four groundstrokes to get broken. That established a pattern: Over the first set, she would make 21 unforced errors, more than in her entire quarterfinal match.

Chakvetadze then held to 1-0 in the second set, and held three break points at love-40 in the next game. And that's when Kuznetsova turned things around, winning 22 of 25 points in one stretch to assume command.

She wound up saving 11 of 16 break points she faced, while converting eight of 11 she generated.