ROME (AFP) - 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.

If Cornet wins, it will be a third top 10 scalp in a single tournament for the French sensation, who romped into the quarter-finals on Thursday by upsetting world number five Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 6-2, 6-4.

"It's my second top ten in two days, and why not a third one tomorrow?" said Cornet, ranked 34th in the world.

The teenager from Nice was to have faced sixth-ranked Serena Williams in the quarter-final, but the American pulled out with a back injury.

In Saturday's semi-final, 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.

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

"I was afraid of being ridiculous," said Cornet, who won the junior tournament at Roland Garros last year.

The Russian's 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 said she draws inspiration from American world number six Andy Roddick, adding: "Thanks to him I won some matches."

"He loves to be the showman, to share his emotions with the public."

But since turning pro in 2006, "I'm my own idol," Cornet said.

Sunday's final will be her second on the WTA tour, having lost in Acapulco to Italian Flavia Pennetta earlier this year.

Cornet met Jankovic at the US Open last year, when she lost to her in the second round while winning a set.

Saturday's win will lift Cornet in the WTA rankings to around 22, and if she wins on Sunday she would enter the top 20, at around 17.

Sharapova had a marathon night match with Switzerland's Patty Schnyder at the claycourt tournament.

"In part it's my fault for making some of the matches longer than they should be," said Sharapova, who officially regains the world number one ranking next week following Justine Henin's retirement.

But Sharapova also complained of tough playing conditions in Rome. "For some people, like me, I had two night matches, two late nights. ... It's a pretty short turnaround to be able to compete."

Chakvetadze noted that she had spent far more time on court here than Cornet, and her three three-set matches had taken their toll.

Cornet, who had not dropped a set until Saturday, did not play on Friday because of Williams' withdrawal.

"I hope I will recover," Chakvetadze said. "And maybe it was a good preparation for the French Open" starting on May 25.

The Rome tournament has been hit by several late-stage withdrawals.

The men's draw last week saw winner Novak Djokovic get an easy ride to the final as Nicolas Almagro of Spain and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic retired with injuries in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.

Roddick withdrew ahead of the semi-finals, while Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, runner-up here last year to Spaniard Rafael Nadal, pulled out in the round of 16.