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| February 26, 2006 | Sunday | Muharram 27, 1427 |
Sharapova to face Henin in final
DUBAI, Feb 25: Maria Sharapova, who did her chemistry homework during the seven-hour break between matches, and Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne will face each other in the final of the WTA Dubai Open.
Russian third seed Sharapova beat American Lindsay Davenport, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and Henin beat Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 7-5 after an exhausting day when they also had to play their quarterfinal matches because of Thursday’s rain delays.
After gaining a revenge, 6-3, 6-4 win over Switzerland’s Martina Hingis in the afternoon, Sharapova alleviated the boredom by doing her on-line studies for her high school degree.
She then came out and beat defending champion Davenport in a match which finished close to midnight to set up a clash with Henin.
It was also difficult to analyse. Davenport took the first four games and broke Sharapova’s serve four times out of five to win the first set; Sharapova took the next four games and didn’t drop serve at all to win the second.
The third was more closely-contested although the rallies were usually short, both players employing clubbing ground strokes behind heavy serves, committing themselves to making the first big blow whenever possible.
Davenport broke for 2-1, but Sharapova broke back at once, and as the 104-minute match neared its climax, the 19-year-old was the one who was moving her feet better and preparing more comfortably for most of her shots.
Results (semifinals): Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 6-2, 7-5; Maria Sharapova (RUS) bt Lindsay Davenport (USA) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
MEMPHIS (Tennessee): Sweden’s Robin Soderling paid back Andy Murray for his defeat last week in San Jose by beating the teenage Scot 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships on Friday.
In Soderling’s first ATP semifinals in more than a year, he’ll face Belgium’s Kristof Vliegen, who overcame Chilean qualifier Paul Capdeville 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Sixth-seeded Tommy Haas, the 1999 champion, outlasted Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4, winning on his 12th ace. Tursunov hit 14.
Results
Men (quarterfinals):
Kristof Vliegen (BEL) bt Paul Capdeville (CHI) 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; Robin Soderling (SWE) bt Andy Murray (GBR) 6-1, 6-4; Julien Benneteau (FRA) bt Andy Roddick (USA) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); Tommy Haas (GER) bt Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-4.
Women (semifinals)
Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) bt Amy Frazier (USA) 6-2, 6-2; Marta Domachowska (POL) bt Jill Craybas (USA) 6-1, 6-0
WTA Bogota results
BOGOTA: Results from fifth day of 175,000-dollar WTA tournament here on Friday:
Quarterfinals: Flavia Pennetta (ITA) bt Betthanie Mattek (USA) 6-3, 6-1; Maria Antonia Sanchez (ESP) bt Catalina Castano (COL 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Lourdes Dominguez (ESP) bt Emilie Loit (FRA) 7-6 (8/6), 7-5; Ludmila Cervanova (SVK) bt Gisella Dulko (ARG) 7-6 (8/6), 5-7, 6-3.
Rotterdam results
ROTTERDAM: Results from the fifth day of the 780,000-euro Rotterdam ATP tournament:
Quarterfinals: Christophe Rochus (BEL) bt Arvind Parmar (GBR) 6-3, 6-3; Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) bt Daniele Bracciali (ITA) 6-4, 6-2; Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Novak Djokovic (SEM) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2); Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).—Agencies
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