Sharapova reaches first final

Japan Open

Latest results

Russian teenager Maria Sharapova battled through to the first WTA final of her career with a straight-sets victory over Zheng Jie of China.

The 16-year-old will face fellow teenager Aniko Kapros in Sunday's final after winning 6-3 7-5.

"I won my first pro tournament here in Japan (a $10,000 ITF event)," said Sharapova.

"It was special. Hopefully, I can go all the way here and it will be even more special."

Sharapova quickly found herself 3-0 down in the first set against Zheng but she won the next six games and was never troubled again.

"I just tried to play my game, but she started off really well and there wasn't much I could do," said Sharapova.

Sharapova later captured her first WTA doubles title.

She teamed up with Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn to beat the American pair of Ansley Cargill and Ashley Harkleroad 7-6 (7-1) 6-0.

"Both of us are very happy to have won our first title together. It is the first time we have played together, so this is a great result," said Sharapova.

"I'm excited to have won the doubles title. I hope that I can come back and win the singles tomorrow."

Hungarian Kapros will also make her first appearance in a WTA final after she breezed past Spain's Arantxa Parra 6-1 6-2 in the second singles semi-final.

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Kremlin Cup

Mauresmo reached the final in Moscow for the first time

Amelie Mauresmo gave herself a huge confidence boost with a comfortable win over in-form Russian Elena Dementieva.

Mauresmo, playing her first tournament since the US Open, reached the final with a 6-4 6-1 triumph and will play Anastasia Myskina after the Russian overwhelmed Anna Pistolesi 6-2 6-0 in the second semi.

A rampant Mauresmo brought to an end Dementieva's 10-match winning streak in which the Russian picked up two successive titles.

Dementieva started brightly, opening up a 4-2 lead, but the Frenchwoman ran off the next four games to take the first set.

Mauresmo strolled through the second set in just 25 minutes as Dementieva's game fell apart.

"I started really well, was very aggressive," said Dementieva.

"But at 4-2, I played two sloppy games, just gave the initiative away. I think I was rushing my shots a little bit, trying to finish off points right away.

"But in the second set honestly I just don't think I had the emotional strength to fight for victory."