ROME : French qualifier Alize Cornet stormed into the final of the Rome International on Sunday, dropping her first set of the tournament to Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze before winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The 18-year-old will face defending champion Jelena Jankovic after the Serbian fourth seed booked her place in the final without hitting a ball when Maria Sharapova pulled out of their scheduled semi-final with a calf injury.

Cornet recovered from a set down and 0-3 in the second before the tables began to turn as the Moscovite world number eight unleashed a string of errors including two double faults.

The errors continued as Cornet, helped by a solid serve, got back into the match, winning the second set at 6-4 before going on to win the third 6-3.

Cornet had romped into the quarter-finals on Thursday by upsetting world number five Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 6-2, 6-4.

"I'm so happy," said Cornet, ranked 34th in the world. "I just beat a second top ten player in one tournament. I'll try for my third one tomorrow."

She said she found her fighting spirit after contemplating losing 6-3, 6-0.

"Nobody can stop me," she said. "I believe in me."

Both players had strong service games until 3-3 in the first set when Cornet missed two easy forehands to give Chakvetadze the break.

The Moscovite went on to win the set and raced to a 3-0 lead in the second before Cornet managed to get on the scoreboard.

- AFP /ls