2002 champion Amelie Mauresmo cruised into the final of the 1.3 million US dollars Montreal Cup to face unseeded Elena Likhovtseva, after a 7-6, 6-2 win over Russia's Vera Zvonareva on Saturday.

Unseeded Russian Likhovtseva stunned third-seeded compatriot Anastasia Myskina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Mauresmo rallied to take a first-set tiebreaker and overcame a rain delay to win her match against the 10th-seeded Zvonareva. It was the former champion's fourth win in as many career matches against Zvonareva. Zvonareva broke serve in the opening game of the first set and led 5-3 at one point.

A costly double-fault in the 10th game allowed Mauresmo to tie the match 5-5. Mauresmo then had to rally from a 5-1 deficit in the tiebreak before finally winning 8-6, after an ace followed by yet another Zvonareva double-fault ended the first set.

A discouraged Zvonareva was then broken in the third game of the set and after a 52-minute rain delay, seemed to finally run out of steam.

Ranked 39th in the world, Likhovtseva dominated the fourth-ranked Myskina in the opening set and looked on course for victory when she broke the French Open champion in the second. However, Myskina rallied from a 5-2 deficit to set up a decisive third set.

With the score tied 4-4 in the decider, Likhovtseva broke Myskina in a thrilling ninth game that was at deuce six times. She then held her nerve and her serve to close out the match after trailing 2-0 early in the set.