Pavlyuchenkova, who began the tournament seeded 31st, defeated Slovenia's Tamara Zidanšek 7-5, 6-3 on the clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The Russian broke her opponent six times and has made history in becoming the first player to reach her first Grand Slam final after playing in more than 50 main draws.

Now 29, Pavlyuchenkova is a former two-time junior Grand Slam champion and made her Wimbledon debut aged 15, but this is by far her best return at a senior major.

"I had my own long special road," Pavlyuchenkova said following the straight-sets win. 

"Everybody has different ways. 

"I don't know, I'm just happy I'm in the final."

Krejčíková awaits, following a dramatic win against Greek giant-killer Maria Sakkari.

Sakkari, who at number 17 was the top seed left in the competition, had knocked out defending champion Iga Świątek and last year's runner-up, Sofia Kenin, in back-to-back rounds.

Sakkari did not drop a set against either the Polish teenager or American Kenin, but found the going much tougher against 25-year-old Krejčíková, whose pervious best performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros last year.

Krejčíková won the first set 7-5, Sakkari took the second 6-4, and the match ran into a fourth hour in a topsy-turvy third set.

The Czech saved match point when trailing 3-5, and then needed five match points herself before she could put the tie to bed, although that was not entirely her fault, as Krejčíková did appear to have won a one point only for the umpire to wrongly overturn an out call.

Krejčíková dusted herself down and was able to claim a 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 victory in three hours and 18 minutes.

"I actually think we both deserve to win because we played a really, really great match," Krejcikova, who is now on a 11-match winning streak, said.

"But only one can win. 

"I'm really happy that it's me, that I'm going to have another chance to play another match."

The women's singles final is set for Saturday (June 12), with the men's semi-finals due up tomorrow.