Justine Henin-Hardenne kept on track for her third Dubai Open crown, defeating Russia's [Images] Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 7-5 to reach Saturday's final.

The 23-year-old Belgian, who also captured the title in 2003 and 2004, now meets third seed Maria Sharapova [Images] who knocked out holder Lindsay Davenport [Images] 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Henin-Hardenne is looking for a repeat of her Australian Open semi-final win over Sharapova last month.

"Sharapova is a real competitor, a great fighter, and we had a very tough match [in Melbourne]," Henin-Hardenne told reporters.

"It was one of the best matches I've played in the last few months and it's going to be interesting for sure, a tough mission for me."

On another rain-affected day, fourth seed Henin-Hardenne needed a total of five hours to eventually claim victory.

Henin-Hardenne dominated the first set before Kuznetsova rallied strongly in the second, taking a 2-0 lead.

The Belgian, however, was more consistent and caught out the unseeded Kuznetsova several times with her change of pace.

Henin-Hardenne broke serve in the third and fifth games to go 3-2 up.

COSTLY ERROR

Kuznetsova showed her fighting qualities by saving four break points at 4-4 but then made a costly error at 5-5 with a poor drop shot that her opponent put away to break serve.

"I was pretty happy the way I handled everything, the delays," said Henin-Hardenne. "It takes a lot of energy.

"It's not really hard to stay concentrated because you're thinking a lot about your match but you're waiting with nothing really to do except look at the rain coming down."

Second seed Davenport raced into a 4-0 lead in her semi-final as she took the first set against Sharapova.

Fortunes were reversed in the second when the American won only three points in the opening four games.

After two early breaks of serve in the deciding set, Davenport's eighth double-fault followed by a backhand winner helped Sharapova break again to go 5-3 up.

"It was definitely a big battle," said Sharapova. "I played against two totally different opponents today and it took me a while to get used to the pace at the beginning.

"She was hitting winners left and right but once I started feeling a little bit better I gained more confidence."

In delayed quarter-final matches played earlier on Friday, Kuznetsova ended Amelie Mauresmo's 16-match winning streak by overcoming the top seed 7-6, 6-4.

Sharapova avenged her recent defeat in Tokyo by Martina Hingis [Images], winning 6-3, 6-4.

Davenport came from behind to beat unseeded Russian Maria Kirilenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Henin-Hardenne put out Italy's [Images] Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6.

• Complete tennis coverage
• All you want to know about Sania Mirza