Elena Dementieva beats Francesca Schiavone in Dubai semis

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Wilson Blade 9

Eighth seed Elena Dementieva defeated Francesca Schiavone 5-7 7-5 6-2 in the second semifinal of the day, and will face fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Saturday’s final of the $1.5 million Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

Despite trailing 3-5 in the first set, Schiavone – who sensationally ended Justine Henin’s unbeaten run in the tournament – took the early initiative by winning four successive games to claim the set. But world No.11 Dementieva, who is making her event debut in Dubai, began to impose her authority and closed out for the match without too many difficulties.

Earlier in the day, second-seeded Kuznetsova defeated Jelena Jankovic to advance to the final, her second this season (the first one was in Sydney where she lost to Justine Henin).

The 2007 US Open runner-up Kuznetsova is 5-3 lifetime against Dementieva, including a victory in the 2004 US Open final.

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