Chinese Li Na and German Angelique Kerber fought past their opponent to secure their berth in the final of Cincinnati Open 2012.

Ninth seeded Li Na was the first to move into the final, with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 victory over American Venus Williams.

Venus struggled with her back during the match and later said "I pretty much couldn't serve. I wanted to try though. Especially since this was my first semifinal of the year, I wanted to try to see if I could get to the final."

She continued "Right now I don't know why my back hurts. I just know it hurts. After this I'm going to get an evaluation and see what exactly is happening with it."

Elated Li Na said " "It's amazing this year, because last two years I never got one point in North America - so I'm happy I can be in a final again already. After Montréal I felt very tired. I got here and my coach sent me a text message saying the most important thing is the first match here - I don't know what happened, but the ball is going in the court all the time."

Li Na next faces fifth seeded Angelique Kerber, who scored a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over fourth seeded Petra Kvitova.

Kerber said "It's amazing to be here in the final - for sure right now this is one of my favorite tournaments. I came here to get a lot of matches before New York, and I beat Serena and Petra and I'm in the final. I'm enjoying myself so much here."

"I did a lot of mistakes," Kvitova rued. "I knew if I played my solid game and went for my volleys I could win, but my mistakes were the problem. But it's a great result for me to win Montréal and be in the semifinals here in Cincinnati - I hope it gives me some confidence for the US Open."