Tennis-Myskina, Zheng through to Stockholm final

STOCKHOLM, Aug 12 (Reuters) Russian top seed Anastasia Myskina and China's Zheng Jie won through to the final of the Stockholm Open today.

World number 11 Myskina easily beat Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson 6-2 6-4 while Zheng vanquished unseeded 18-year-old Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 7-6.

Myskina, the 2004 French Open champion and runner-up in Stockholm last year, swept past fourth seed Arvidsson in the first set with powerful groundstrokes down the lines and, after an early break in the second set, kept the Swede at bay.

''I missed a bit more today than before, but it was a good game,'' Myskina was quoted as saying by the tournament's Web site.

Doubles specialist Zheng won her first set against Pironkova with ease as the Bulgarian teenager, who upset former world number one Venus Williams in the first round of the Australian Open this year, was guilty of a string of unforced errors.

Pironkova lifted her game in a second set where the players took turns breaking each others serves, forcing Zheng to a tiebreak which the Chinese third seed won 7-5.

REUTERS SP RAI2232