Sharapova, Hewitt advance at Japan Open tennis
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-08 21:44

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova advanced to the Japan Open final Friday with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Top seeded Lleyton Hewitt defeated France's Cyril Saulnier 7-5, 6-1 to set up a men's semifinal showdown with fifth-seeded Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, who downed Thailand's Paradorn Srichapan 6-4, 6-4.

Top seeded Sharapova dropped the first two games in the first set but quickly recovered to win the next six and overpower Tanasugarn at Ariake Colosseum.

``I got off to a slow start. I didn't have a proper warmup and she broke my serve right away,'' said the 17-year-old Russian, who won Sunday's Korea Open.

``I made a double fault, but started to serve better as the match went on and was able to return well, and that was the key,'' she added.

Hewitt, who won here in 2001, had his hands full in the first set, but took control in the second when he capitalized on two double faults to break Saulnier twice.

Saulnier, who defeated Sweden's Thomas Johansson in the third round, looked tired in the second set and was unable keep up with the Australian.

``It took me a few games to get on to his serve,'' said Hewitt. ``As the match went on, I was able to put pressure on him and the double faults started to come.''

Saulnier, who had four aces in the first set, double faulted in the fourth game of the second set when Hewitt took a 3-1 lead.

The tournament's ninth-seeded player double faulted again in the sixth game before Hewitt won the match with his ninth ace.

In other men's matches, unseeded Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic defeated Germany's Bjorn Phau 7-5, 6-4 and will face No. 7 American Taylor Dent in the other semifinal. Dent, seeded seventh, was a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 winner over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

Sharapova will face American Mashona Washington in Saturday's final. Washington posted a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over seventh-seeded Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic.

In head-to-head matches against Washington, Sharapova has won twice and lost once.

The last time the two players met, Washington defeated Sharapova 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the second round of August's Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven.

``She has a good serve and I'll have to return well,'' said Sharapova. ``I'll have to dictate the play a little better than I did last time but I try not to worry too much about what my opponent will do and just try to play my game.''

Sharapova, who broke through at the Japan Open last year to win her career first WTA singles title, is tremendously popular in Japan. Friday's quarterfinal was near capacity and Saturday's final has been sold out for weeks.

``It's always nice to get the support of the fans here,'' said Sharapova. ``I hope I can live up to their expectations and defend the title.''

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