World No. 23 Pavlyuchenkova won 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-4 and will face either top-ranked Garbine Muguruza or defending champion Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday at Ariake Colosseum.
Pavlyuchenkova admitted to thinking she had lost the match when she was down 3-0 in the final set.
"I was already thinking about going to Wuhan, when I should fly. In my head I was booking flights already," the Russian said, referring to the next tournament starting Sunday in China. "But at the same time, I always fight to the last moment, the last point."
"There was a lot of drama from both sides. I actually didn't expect to start as well as I did today. It was a great match and I'm glad to be in the final here."
Kerber was a stark contrast to herself in the opening set from a day earlier, when she outlasted Karolina Pliskova in a quarterfinal pitting two former world No. 1s and also a rematch of last year's U.S. Open final.
Pavlyuchenkova flew through the first set in 19 minutes as Kerber appeared sluggish, able to win just 10 points.
It wasn't until the third game of the second set that Kerber finally won her first game of the match, breaking Pavlyuchenkova, but almost looked like she would pull out afterward.
Kerber sought a medical timeout to receive treatment on her left forearm and the German headed back out -- beginning an impressive turnaround, going on to win the set in a tiebreak after being down by as much as 5-2.
Kerber won the first three games of the third set, but then Pavlyuchenkova returned the favor with a comeback of her own, rattling off the next five before connecting on the second match point to book her spot in the final.
Kerber said she wasn't sure how serious the injury to her arm is.
"I don't know about my arm. I could play to the end so I hope it's not so serious," said last season's winner of the U.S. and Australian Open.
"In the first set, I was not completely in my rhythm, not in my game and she started very well. I tried to turn it around and win the second set so I think at the end, it was still a good match," Kerber said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
