ROME -- Top-ranked Simona Halep rallied past three-time Rome champion Maria Sharapova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 and will again face Elina Svitolina for the Italian Open trophy.
Sharapova appeared worn out toward the end of her nearly 2 1/2-hour match against Halep, having been on court more than seven hours longer than her opponent this week.
The fourth-ranked Svitolina produced only 18 winners to Kontaveit's 24 but also committed fewer unforced errors -- 13 to 20 -- in a match that lasted 74 minutes.
Defending champion Svitolina returned to the Italian Open final with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win over Anna Kontaveit.
Aiming for the third title defense in her career, Svitolina will face either top-ranked Simona Halep or three-time Rome champion Maria Sharapova in Sunday's championship match on the red clay of the Foro Italico.
"I'm happy with the way I handled today under pressure and all this week," Svitolina said following her victory Saturday. "I know there is one match to go and I will give it my best shot tomorrow."
The fourth-ranked Svitolina produced only 18 winners to Kontaveit's 24 but also committed fewer unforced errors -- 13 to 20 -- in a match that lasted 74 minutes.
"I was really solid with my performance and I was really proud that I could stay consistent for the entire match," Svitolina said.
Kontaveit, an Estonian, could still be pleased with a week that saw her eliminate four established players: 12th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe, two-time finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, 1999 champion Venus Williams and second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.
"She was really tough today and played great," Kontaveit said. "So I'm just taking the positives from this week."
Halep and Sharapova were meeting later on a warm day in the Italian capital. This is the last major warm-up before the French Open starts next weekend.