Sixth seed Venus Williams advanced to the final of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships with a three-set victory over sister Serena. Venus beat Serena 6-1 2-6 7-6 after winning a third set tiebreak 7-3.

The world No.1 and top seed Serena Williams was the first player to take a set off Venus Williams this year in Dubai. Winning the 19th meeting with her sister, Venus now leads their all-time series 10-9.

By reaching the semifinals, Venus Williams is projected to move into the Top 5 for the first time since the week of August 25, 2003.

In the title match of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Venus will play a surprise finalist Virginie Razzano, who advanced by defeating Kaia Kanepi in the semifinals. Interestingly, the last time Razzano played Venus Williams, she saved three match points and won. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

World No.58 Virginie Razzano reached the biggest final of her career with a 6-1 6-2 victory over No.16 seed Kaia Kanepi at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

The 25-year-old Razzano, who put out world number two Dinara Safina in the second round and followed up with fifth seed Vera Zvonareva, will relax with her boyfriend, a nice dinner and a glass of beer the night before facing Serena or Venus Williams for the title in Dubai.

The Frenchwoman has never played Serena and is 1-2 against Venus, having beaten the older Williams sister in three sets the last time they played, which was in 2007.

Razzano would like to play Serena this time: "Maybe it would be fun to try the new one. I've never played Serena so let's see who it would be." (source: M & C, photo: danlamouette)

Virginie Razzano, Kaia Kanepi, Venus Williams and Serena Williams reached the semifinals of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday.

France’s Virginie Razzano, who upset world No.2 Dinara Safina in the second round, defeated fifth seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva 7-6(7) 7-5 to advance to the final four where she’ll face Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

Seed No.16 Kanepi is expected to become the first Estonian to break into the world's top 20 after following up her victory over Jelena Jankovic by ending qualifier Elena Vesnina’s run in Dubai, defeating her 6-3 7-5.

Sixth seed Venus Williams went past seed No.4 Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-3, while Venus’ younger sister Serena, ranked 1st in the world, beat Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-4 in the last quarterfinal. Ivanovic leveled at 2-2 after being two games down in the first set, and was even leading 3-0 in the second, but Serena bettered the Serb to set up a semifinal with sister Venus. (photos: Stephane Martinache, Arijit Basak, danlamouette, Ralf Reinecke)

Third seed Jelena Jankovic was upset 6-2 7-5 by Estonian world No.24 Kaia Kanepi in the third round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

After taking the first set without giving Jankovic one break point, seed No.16 Kanepi raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set. The world No.3, however, managed to come back, leveling the score at 5-5. Still, at 6-5 for Kanepi, when Jankovic was serving to force a tiebreak, she failed to hold her serve and Kanepi won the match.

Estonian Kaia Kanepi will play Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals. Vesnina, who upset Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round, advanced to the final eight when Dominika Cibulkova retired through illness in the third set.

Other third-round matches finished so far on Wednesday:

Venus Williams beat Alize Cornet 6-3 6-2, while Virginie Razzano followed up her win over second seed Dinara Safina by beating Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 1-6 6-2. Defending champion Elena Dementieva defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1 6-3. Marion Bartoli also had to retire, because of blisters on both feet, so Vera Zvonareva went through. And finally, Ana Ivanovic put out Frenchwoman Camille Pin 6-2 7-6. The Serena Williams vs. Zheng Jie third-round match is currently in progress. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Second seed Dinara Safina was upset by Virginie Razzano 6-4 6-2 in the second round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, while all the other seeded players progressed on Tuesday.

The Australian Open finalist Safina was erratic, inconsistent and hit 12 double faults.

"She played I think one of her best matches and I was not there," said the Russian world No.2. "I didn't give myself the chance to play. It was one of those days today and I'll just have to forget it and get ready for Indian Wells."

All the other seeds were victorious today, including top seed Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, Venus Williams, Alize Cornet, Marion Bartoli, Dominika Cibulkova, Zheng Jie, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Kaia Kanepi. All their victories came in straight sets, except Serena Williams’ over Sara Errani (4-6 6-2 6-0), Marion Bartoli’s over Francesca Schiavone (7-6 3-6 6-3) and Zheng Jie’s over Samantha Stosur (3-6 7-5 7-5). (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)