Rezai beats Sharapova to continue remarkable run

Aravane Rezai beat top-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-4 on Friday to reach the final of the Istanbul Cup.

The 20-year-old Frenchwoman, who is ranked 62 in the world, was due to meet another Russian player, Elena Dementieva, in yesterday's final of the clay-court French Open warmup.

"I am glad that I came here and I played a few matches before Roland Garros, though it is unfortunate to lose in the semi-finals," Sharapova said.

Sharapova, who served seven double faults, is now looking ahead to doing well at the French Open.

"I have all the motivation in the world," she said. "I have been working very hard in the last weeks."

Rezai, who defeated Venus Williams in the second round, is seeking her first WTA title.

"It is the best result of my career -- this is the fruit of my work," Rezai said.

Earlier on Friday, Dementieva beat fifth-seeded Alona Bondarenko 7-6 (5), 6-2.

"I'm looking forward to my first final of the year," the second-seeded Dementieva said.

Top seed Amelie Mauresmo had to fight to beat Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 on Friday to move into the final of the WTA tournament in Strasbourg.

Mauresmo was due to face Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues yesterday, who earned a walkover against gastro-enteritis victim Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

The Frenchwoman said she still had some work to do to fine tune her preparations for next week's French Open.

"I have to get my act together mentally because I haven't always been concentrating well this week," Mauresmo said. "My backhand slice in particular has not been up to par."

She had appendix surgery in February and though she has made progress, she is unlikely to be in the best of form for Roland Garros.

"I am still looking for more consistency and though things are getting better, I'm still a little behind schedule," she added.

The Czech Republic beat Germany 3-0 on Friday to set up a meeting with Argentina in yesterday's final of the World Team Cup.

Tomas Berdych put the Czechs ahead in Duesseldorf by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, and Jan Hajek beat the stubborn Florian Mayer 7-6 (4), 6-2 and clinch a fourth final appearance for the Czechs.

Berdych and Martin Damm overcame Benjamin Becker and Michael Kohlmann 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles to complete the sweep.

The Czech Republic have yet to win the title after losing the 1996, 1998 and 2003 finals.

Two-time champion Argentina advanced to their fifth final on Thursday by beating Chile to win their group. Argentina won their second title in 2002.

Kohlmann stayed in contention against Berdych on Friday until 3-2 in the first set. He then dropped the next four games and the pattern was repeated in the second set, with Berdych winning four consecutive games from 2-2.

Hajek remained undefeated this week and has not dropped a set in his three matches, but Mayer fired 11 aces and pushed him hard to take a 5-3 lead in the opening set.

Hajek was broken when serving for the set, lost the tiebreaker and led 2-0 in the second set before surrendering the next six games.

Spain, which along with Germany had been in contention for a place in the final, beat Belgium 3-0.

David Ferrer beat Oliver Rochus 6-3, 6-4, and Nicolas Almagro took just 57 minutes to sweep aside Kristof Vliegen 6-2, 6-1.

Ferrer then teamed up with Bartolomeu Salva-Vidal to beat Rochus and Steve Darcis 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.

Unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils continued his victory march at the ATP clay-court tournament in Portschach on Friday, beating fourth-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 7-5 in the semi-finals.

Monfils, who had previously beaten second-seeded American Andy Roddick, was due to play Argentina's Juan Monaco in the final. Monaco beat Pervian Luis Horna 6-4, 6-4 in the other last four clash.

It has been quite a week for 20-year-old Monfils who has shot back to form after a disastrous start to the season with 10 defeats in 13 matches on the ATP Tour.

Monfils only managed to get into this week's tournament with a wild card but has shown he merited the invitation.