Jankovic faces qualifier after Sharapova hurt

By Paul Virgo

ROME (Reuters) - Title holder Jelena Jankovic will meet French qualifier Alize Cornet in the final of the Italian Open after the withdrawal of Russian second seed Maria Sharapova with a calf strain.

The 18-year-old Cornet staged a splendid comeback to upset Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze 3-6 6-4 6-3 and earn herself a meeting with Serb fourth seed Jankovic.

The first set of the semi-final was tight until the seventh game, when Cornet was punished with a break of serve after blasting some easy forehands into net.

The 18-year-old lost the five games that followed and looked out of the match at 3-0 down in the second set.

But Chakvetadze repeated the tendency she showed earlier in the tournament to relax in the middle of her matches and Cornet took advantage to roar back and level.

The Frenchwoman, who knocked out last year's finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday, carried the momentum in the deciding set to reach her first big final.

Cornet said fear of a humiliating defeat inspired her comeback.

"I was just afraid to lose like 6-3 6-1 in 50 minutes, and I told myself you have to keep fighting and try to come back," she told a news conference.