Sharapova beats Chakvetadze to reach final

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San Diego, Aug 5: Top seed Maria Sharapova ended Anna Chakvetadze's 12-match winning streak and powered into the San Diego Classic final with a 6-3 6-2 victory.

Holder Sharapova had little trouble yesterday in defeating her fellow Russian, who appeared to be cramping late in the second set due to playing for three consecutive weeks.

''The quality of the first set was better than the second where I didn't have to give as much, but it can get tricky and I'm glad to get it done,'' Sharapova said.

Chakvetadze had played Fed Cup and won titles in Cincinnati and Stanford before coming to San Diego.

After playing for more than 2-1/2 hours in beating Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in a three set quarter-final on Friday night, she had lost some of her speed around the court.

Sharapova ended the contest with 26 winners to only five from Chakvetadze and broke her fellow 20-year-old five times.

Sharapova will face ninth-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva or 11th seed Swiss Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the final.

Reuters>