New Haven, United States: Second-seeded defending champion Petra Kvitova defeated four-time winner Caroline Wozniacki on Friday to set up an all-Czech final against Lucie Safarova at the WTA hardcourt tournament in New Haven.

Kvitova, winner of the US Open tune-up event in 2012 and 2014, roared back from a 5-3 deficit in the first set - saving one set point - to defeat third-seeded Wozniacki 7-5, 6-1.

“A most difficult first set,” Kvitova said. “I was really focusing and every game was so close - a few points and it would have been on the other side.”

Wozniacki admitted that she had no answer once Kvitova got rolling.

“The thing is, I don’t think there’s any player on tour that hits it harder than she does,” Wozniacki said. “She has such good depth on the ball. If you play short she’s going to punish you straight away.”

Trailing 4-1 in the second set, Wozniacki had her left knee wrapped.

But with the start of the US Open coming up on Monday, the Dane said it was a familiar problem, not an injury concern for the final Grand Slam of the year.

“It’s something that I’ve been struggling with for a couple of years,” she said. “But I just wanted to make sure it was taped because the tape was starting to loosen up a little bit. I just wanted something that was a little bit stronger on the knee.

“But it was nothing, really. Nothing major.”

Kvitova reached her fourth straight New Haven final, where she’ll face fourth-seeded compatriot Safarova.

Safarova, the French Open runner-up who is ranked sixth in the world, beat Ukrainian lucky loser Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).

Tsurenko broke Safarova three times - saving a match point at 5-4 - to force the second-set tiebreaker, but couldn’t force a third set.

“I had to go back to basics to calm myself down,” Safarova said of thwarting Tsurenko’s bid to rally. “I just had to start to play more aggressive and go for the shots.”

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson booked his place in the final of the Winston-Salem Open here, defeating unseeded Tunisian Malek Jaziri in straight sets.

The big-serving 29-year-old from Johannesburg, seeded second for the tournament after receiving a wild card, swept aside Jaziri 6-4, 6-3 to reach only the ninth final of his career.

Anderson, the world number 15, has not won a singles title on the ATP Tour since victory at Delray Beach in 2012.

Earlier Friday, French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert accounted for American 13th seed Steve Johnson to book his place in the final.

Herbert advanced to Saturday’s final after fighting back from losing the first set, prevailing 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

The win saw the world number 21 advance to the first ATP final of his career.