( CNN ) -- World number three Kim Clijsters overcame Russia 's Alisa Kleybanova 4-6 6-3 7-6 in a two-hour 38 minute battle on Thursday to reach the final of the Sydney International tournament . Klijsters will now face China 's Li Na in Friday 's final and a win at Sydney 's Olympic Park will see her rise to number two in the world rankings . The 27-year-old Belgian , who had lost her only previous clash with Kleybanova , was twice forced to recover from breaks of serve in the final set before she emerged victorious . `` I 'm pleased with the way I finished , '' the U.S. Open champion told the WTA website . `` It probably was n't my best tennis , but I worked hard for it , and that 's a big part of my preparation . Blog : The Oz Open should be in February ! `` If you 're not able to play your own game or the way you like to play , you have to work your way through points and matches . You can get a lot out of a match like this . '' Number-eight seed Li -- a semifinalist at the 2010 Australian Open -- defeated qualifier Bojana Jovanovski 7-6 6-3 to book her place in the final . Jovanovski , 19 , twice served for the opening set but eventually slipped to defeat against the number-eleven ranked Li . In the men 's draw , Serbia 's Viktor Troicki set up a semifinal clash with Florian Mayer after he defeated Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-4 . Germany 's Mayer secured his place in the last four of the competition with a straight-sets 6-4 6-1 win over Italian Potito Starace . The second men 's semifinal will see Frenchman Gilles Simon take on Latvian Ernests Gulbis , after both players scored straight-set wins at the last-eight stage . Simon dispatched of Ukraine 's Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-3 , while Gulbis advanced at the expense of another Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky with a 6-4 6-4 win . Elsewhere in Australia , top seed Marion Bartoli crashed out at the quarterfinal stage of the rain-hit Hobart International after defeat by the Czech Klara Zakopalova . Weather delays meant Zakopalova was forced to play two matches on the same day , but she still had enough to beat world number 17 Bartoli 6-4 6-2 . France 's Bartoli was full of praise for her opponent , who is ranked 47 in the world . `` She ( Zakopalova ) played unbelievable to be honest , '' Bartoli told the tournament 's website . `` I mean I 'm used to playing against top 10 players , and they can barely play like that . '' With her victory , the 28-year-old set up a final-four showdown against her doubles partner and local favorite Jarmila Groth . The Australian Groth scored a comfortable triumph against Italy 's Roberta Vinci in her quarterfinal tie . In the tournament 's second semifinal , Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( USA ) will meet Shuai Peng ( CHN ) after the American continued her impressive form after last week 's victory in the Hopman Cup .
Klara Zakopalova is into the final of the Sydney International tournament . Clijsters will face Sydney 's Li Na in Friday 's final at China 's Sydney International . Victor Troicki and Florian Mayer will meet in the semifinals of the men 's draw . Klara Zakopalova is out of the Hobart International after she lost to Klara Zakopalova .