Croatia’s Alja Tomljanovic will face off against Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova at the WTA Pattaya Open on Sunday after both women slogged their way to the final Saturday with gruelling three set tie-break victories.

Seventh seed Monica Puig fell to Tomljanovic in a match that lasted just short of three hours in the stuffy tropical heat at the popular Thai tourist resort.

Puig, the last seeded player left in the competition, lost the first set 7-6 but rallied 5-7 to take the second, only to crash out in the third.

Hantuchova dispatched New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic in another hard-fought three setter that the Slovakian also won on a tie-break in the final set.

Croatian born Erakovic got off to a good start, taking the first set 6-4 but she struggled to retain her early form, losing the second 6-3 and third 7-6 in two hours and forty-five minutes.

Baseliner Hantuchova, ranked 73rd, recently changed coaches, taking former Li Na and Justine Henine mentor Carlos Rodriguez.

Tomljanovic is a fair match and ranked just five places higher in the world rankings.

Serena pulls out of Dubai tournament

Top-ranked Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Dubai Tennis Championships because of the lingering effects of an upper respiratory illness sustained during the Australian Open last month.

Williams suffered from a bad cough in her last few matches en route to winning her 19th career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Last weekend, Williams played one singles match for the United States in the Fed Cup against Argentina in Buenos Aires but was replaced by CoCo. Vandeweghe on the second day.

Venus Williams, the defending champion in Dubai, said her sister needed to “regroup and feel better” before playing again. Venus said “it’s just very challenging to hit three and four continents in a row. It’s a lot when you do all that traveling.”

Seventh-ranked Eugenie Bouchard of Canada also withdrew with an arm injury.