Sharapova receives bye into final

Sharapova is into her first clay-court final

Maria Sharapova reached the final of the Amelia Island Championships in Florida after Lindsay Davenport withdrew because of illness.

Davenport, who felt unwell after beating Agnes Szavay in Friday's quarter-finals, said: "I returned to my hotel where the doctor came to see me.

"Unfortunately, I was running a fever, had aches and pains and a headache. Those symptoms have worsened today."

Sharapova will play Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in Sunday's final.

Cibulkova, ranked 34 in the world, defeated fellow teenager Alize Cornet from France 6-2 2-6 6-4.

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Sharapova moves into the final of a clay-court tournament for the first time and said she could use a day of rest having played back-to-back three-set matches that took a total of six hours and 11 minutes to complete.

"I've obviously been playing a few more hours than I wanted to in the last few days," said the Russian world number five.