Sharapova, Henin-Hardenne into Dubai final

Maria Sharapova beat defending champion Lindsay Davenport 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 Friday to reach the final of the Dubai Women's Open.

She'll face Justine Henin-Hardenne, who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 7-5 in the other semifinal. Henin-Hardenne will play for her third Dubai title in four years.
Because rain postponed quarterfinal matches on Thursday, the semifinals were also played on Friday.

In the earlier quarterfinals, Sharapova defeated Martina Hingis 6-3, 6-4, Henin-Hardenne beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (5) and Davenport needed three sets to beat Maria Kirilenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.


Lindsay Davenport enjoyed an early lead Friday in the Dubai Women's Open semis, but Maria Sharapova proved too much for her to handle. (Victor Romero / Associated Press)

Davenport took a 4-0 lead against Sharapova and enjoyed two more breaks to wrap up the first set.

Sharapova raced through the second set, earning three breaks with strong forehand and backhand winners. In the third, Sharapova broke for 5-3 and served out to make the Dubai final in her debut.

"I played two players of completely different styles today and that took some time adjusting," Sharapova said.

Hingis, a five-time Grand Slam singles winner, kept pace with Sharapova until 3-3 in the quarterfinal. The Russian then unleashed forehand winners to break Hingis in the seventh and ninth games to win the first set.

"I needed to keep on attacking as it is difficult to keep rallying with her," Sharapova said.

The pair twice traded serves to tie 3-3 in the second set before Sharapova broke Hingis in the eighth game. Sharapova had a chance to serve for the set, but made several unforced errors before converting her third match point.

"I was not patient enough, and my concentration was not good," said Hingis, ranked 50th after a three-year retirement. "My aim right now is to get seedings in tournaments. That should give me a few easy first-round matches. If I can achieve that, I will start thinking of other goals."

Sharapova will play for her 11th career title, and first since June. She's lost her last three matches to Henin-Hardenne, including a match at the Australian Open.

"I am looking forward to playing against Justine," she said. "We had a great match when we last played at the Australian Open semifinals, and I lost because a couple of points went against me."