DENPASAR, Indonesia, 17 September 2006a — Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Marion Bartoli in the final of the Bali International after retaining her unbeaten record at the event with a 7-6, 7-6 win over defending champion Lindsay Davenport yesterday.

Sixth seed Bartoli of France upset second seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Kuznetsova, seeded No. 1 in a tour event for the first time in her career, is only the second player this year to earn 50 singles victories, behind Justine Henin-Hardenne who has 54. But she had to fight hard to reach her fourth final of the year. Third seed Davenport broke at love to lead 4-3 in the opening set but Kuznetsova immediately broke back with a winning forehand and went on to claim the tiebreak 7-4.

Ancic, Baghdatis Book

China Final Date

In Beijing, Mario Ancic’s remarkable comeback from injury continued yesterday when the fourth seed battled past South Korea’s Lee Hyung-taik 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the final of the China Open.

The 22-year-old Croatian, who returned this week after being out for two months with an injured knee, will meet third seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus who overpowered Thai Paradorn Srichaphan to reach his second final of the season with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory.

Third-seeded Baghdatis, defeated by Roger Federer in the Melbourne final nearly nine months ago, nullified the Thai’s huge effort in saving three match points before going down.

Justine Pulls Belgium Level

Against Italy in Fed Cup

In Charleroi, Belgium, World No. 2 two Justine Henin-Hardenne twice recovered from a break down to beat Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 7-5 and pulled Belgium level with Italy on the opening day of the Fed Cup final. The French Open champion won a battle of nerves to level the tie at 1-1 and give the home crowd reason to cheer. Earlier, Italy’s No. 1 Francesca Schiavone had subdued their mood as she powered past inexperienced Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-3 in little more than an hour. Buoyed up by that win, Pennetta showed little sign of the injury that forced her to miss the US Open beyond the strapping on her left forearm. The world No. 20 broke Henin-Hardenne’s first service game and raced into a 3-0 lead before the Belgian finally found her rhythm, winning the next five games and closing out the set.

When she broke Pennetta in the opening game of the second set she seemed set to cruise to victory.

However, a series of double faults and her opponent’s reliable baseline play gave the Italian a 5-2 lead. But at 5-3 it was her turn to crack, serving two double faults herself to let Henin-Hardenne back into the game and send the crowd into hysteria.

Schiavone proved too good and reliable down the lines for Belgium’s number three, who repeatedly overhit her forehand.

After a late revival by Flipkens in the second set when she pulled back from 0-5 to 3-5, the Italian, ranked 14th in the world, found her touch again.

Schiavone expressed disappointment at not closing out the match sooner, while Flipkens said her late surge had given her hope.