[Rusty Backhand]

Shaking her clenched fists and pounding her chest, Mary Pierce ignored her aching back and heavily taped right thigh and willed herself into the U.S. Open final. Pierce, who took a 12-minute injury timeout after the first set, gutted through her injuries and rallied to beat last year's runner-up, Elena Dementieva, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 Friday and earn a spot in her first U.S.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/sports/rss/ten/SIG=125765se0/*http%3A//sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ap-usopen&prov=ap&type=lgns