INDIAN WELLS: Fourth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva reached the final of the Indian Wells hardcourt tournament on Friday with a straight-sets triumph over doubles partner Victoria Azarenka.

Zvonareva, the highest seed left in the draw, downed the eighth seed from Belarus 6-3, 6-3.

In Sunday's final she'll face either defending champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia or Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Zvonareva, who won her eighth career title at Pattaya City earlier this year, continued her dominance of Azarenka, who has never taken a set from the
Russian in four meetings.

She broke Azarenka in the first game of the second set and again in the final game to seal the victory in one hour and 20 minutes.

Azarenka, a 19-year-old who captured the first two titles of her career this year in Brisbane and Memphis, upset top-seeded Russian Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals, rallying from a set down.

She had her chances against Zvonareva in both sets. She failed to convert two break points in the ninth game to extend the first set, and also had three break chances in the eighth game of the second.

Despite the defeat, the 11th-ranked Azarenka is expected to break into the top 10 when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday.

She and Zvonareva will be back on the same side of the net on Saturday, when they contest the women's doubles final.