Kuznetsova overcomes Henin to reach German Open final

BERLIN, May 13 (Reuters) Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova edged out world number one Justin Henin 6-4 5-7 6-4 in their delayed German Open semi-final today, setting up a showdown against Serb 12th seed Ana Ivanovic later in the day.

The pair had started the match yesterday but play was suspended for bad light with the Belgian top seed serving at 2-3 in the deciding set. On their return, Kuznetsova made the most of her chances to pick up a rare win over Henin.

The 24-year-old Henin served her seventh double fault of the match to gift Kuznetsova a match point at 4-5 and then put a backhand wide to see her hopes of a fourth Berlin title dashed.

The powerful Russian, the world number four and a former US Open champion, had only beaten Henin once in 15 previous meetings.

She served for the match at 5-3 in the second set on Saturday but Henin clung on to force a deciding set.

Teenager Ivanovic advanced when unseeded Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko withdrew from their semi-final because of a hand injury with the Serb leading 4-3.

REUTERS BJR KP1725