Kuznetsova, Vesnina set up all-Russian Indian Wells final

Mar 17, 2017; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) in her semi final match against Karolina Pliskova (CZE) at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

(Reuters) - Twice grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and 14th seed Elena Vesnina posted hard-fought, straight-set wins in Friday's semi-finals to set up an all-Russian final in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Kuznetsova played exceptional defence and used her strong serve and a varied groundstroke attack to edge third seed Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5) 7-6(2) in a tense showdown following Vesnina's 6-3 6-4 win over Kristina Mladenovic.