Auckland final place for Davenport

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Former world number one Lindsay Davenport will face unseeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai in the final of the Auckland Classic.

Davenport wore down Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek 6-4 6-3, while Rezai dashed the hopes of local player Marina Erakovic 6-3 7-5.

Davenport started slowly but proved too strong for the sixth seed.

"She was more aggressive than I thought she would be, and she did a good job of moving me around in the beginning," Davenport said. "Luckily I was able to be a bit more aggressive and take control of the match."

She is finding it hard to settle back into the groove which kept her near the top of world rankings before becoming a mother.

"It has been frustrating in that regard this week," she said. "A few more balls have been flying long on me than I'm used to."

Davenport's victory adds momentum to her comeback after giving birth to her son Jagger in June.

She has won two out of her three comeback events since resuming in September and has a great chance to add another tournament to her 53 career singles titles before the Australian Open later this month.

Erakovic, the first New Zealander to reach the Auckland semifinals for 18 years, was unable to reproduce the form that had led to upset wins over American Ashley Harkleroad and Russian top seed and world No 22 Vera Zvonareva in earlier rounds.

The 19-year-old's serve lost direction, with only 40 percent of her first serves finding their target.

Rezai produced a string of winners and intends to take that bold approach into the final. "Of course, I respect her and she's playing well," world No. 80 Rezai said of Davenport. "But I have nothing to lose."

Russian ace Maria Sharapova overcame compatriot Anna Chakvetadze to reach the final of the JB Group Classic in Hong Kong, setting up a tasty final with American Venus Williams.

Sharapova, ranked five in the world, struggled to find her rhythm in the semi but her strong serve and powerful returns enabled her to beat her 20-year-old opponent 6-4 6-2. "I was a little slow in the beginning," said Sharapova, also 20.

"I wasn't seeing the ball that fast and both of us were a bit sloppy on our service games, but I felt I recovered from that."

Both players fought their way through an error-strewn first set, with the first five games going against serve.

Sharapova's forehand let her down time after time in the early games, as she struggled to find her range, before her strong serve and clever volleys helped her take two games with serve to win the first set.

Chakvetadze did not get into the second set, as Sharapova stepped up a gear to easily close out the match.

Williams overpowered Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-3. The Russian struggled with her serve in the second set after putting up a strong challenge, but Williams controlled her own service games to clinch the final spot.

Williams' hamstring was treated on the side of the court during the game, but she said she hoped it would not rule her out of her match against Sharapova.

"I am playing against a very good player, so I will definitely do everything I can (to get ready)," she said.

China's Li Na continued her run of upsets when she beat fourth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the semifinals of the Australian Women's Hardcourt tennis championships at the Gold Coast.

Li came back from losing the first set and being down a break in the decider to beat Schnyder, twice a champion at the tournament, 3-6 6-3 7-5 and reach only her fourth WTA tour final.

The Chinese world number 29 beat top seed Nicole Vaidisova in the quarterfinals and Austria's seventh seeded Sybille Bammer in the opening round on her way to Saturday's final.

Li will play either Israel's Shahar Peer or Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the final. E-mail to a friend