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