BEIJING, Sept 25: US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat reigning Wimbledon queen Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the US$585,000 d China Open on Saturday a nd now faces number one seed American Serena Williams in the tournament's inaugural final.

Six-time grand slam winner Williams reached Sunday's finals by dispatching the third Russian semi-finalist Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-3.

For Kuznetsova it was her 14th consecutive win since taking the US Open earlier this month and the seventh final she has reached in WTA tournaments since August 2003.

The 19-year old Russian's powerful serve and accurate ground strokes were too much for the 17-year old Sharapova who has not been able to find her top form since winning Wimbledon in July.

"Like everyone was saying, the last two Grand Slam champions are playing here. I think this is great, but as soon as I got out on the court I didn't think about it, I just tried to play my game," Kuznetsova said.

"I wasn't expecting the match to be so easy, I came out wanting to fight for every ball and I didn't want to give her anything easy. I had my chances and I used it, I didn't play perfect, but I played my game."

The leggy Sharapova looked good early on, getting off to a quick start by breaking Kuznetsova in the second game of the first set and jumping out to a 3-0 lead. But in the fourth game, the 19 year-old Kuznetsova broke back and began overpowering the part time model and the darling of the sponsors, who was hampered by unforced errors and missed hits.

WTA China Open results: Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-2, 6-2; Serena Williams (USA) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 6-2, 6-3.-Reuters