Venus Williams reached her first final in almost two and a half years at the Luxembourg Open on Saturday, beating Andrea Petkovic of Germany 5-7 6-4 6-4.
Williams, hampered for two seasons by injuries and an autoimmune disease, will play Monica Niculescu of Romania in Sunday’s final.
While Niculescu has yet to win her first WTA title at 25, Williams has won 43 singles titles overall, including seven at Grand Slams.
Her last was in February 2010 in Acapulco.
In a seesaw semi-final, Petkovic, ranked 182nd, kept up with Williams until 4-4 in the final set.
Then she dropped her serve again and Williams, ranked 41st, closed out the marathon match in 2 hours, 38 minutes.
Niculescu, ranked 70th, reached her second straight Luxembourg Open final by beating Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-1 6-3.