Estonian Kaia Kanepi continued her dream run at the XXIII Internazionali Femminili Di Tennis Di Palermo with a straight sets win over Italian Romina Oprandi, winning 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour.

"The match was more difficult than the score. I was having some problems at the beginning with the heat and Romina's tennis is different from the other girls," Kanepi said. "But from 3-all in the first set I got the lead and led to the end."

In the other semifinal, top seed and Italian home favourite Flavia Pennetta brushed aside the challenge of German Julia Goerges with a 6-0, 6-4 scoreline to keep the home fans' hopes alive and kickin'.

"Tomorrow will be my second final in a row here and I hope to win again like last year," Pennetta said. "I like Palermo a lot. It helps me prepare or the hardcourt season - I'm playing in San Diego and Los Angeles in the coming weeks."

Both players have met five times with Pennetta eading the head-to-head 3-2.