World number one women's tennis player Justine Henin of Belgium and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova have advanced to the finals of the Sydney International hard-court tennis tournament in Australia.
Henin won a tough match against former French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic, taking the maximum three sets to down the powerful Serbian, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. The victory extended Henin's winning streak to 27 matches, dating back to last year's Wimbledon championship.
Kuznetsova also had a hard fight to make the finals, beating Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6.
In men's quarterfinal action, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic beat Argentina's Agustin Calleri 6-2, 6-4. Stepanek meets Australian Chris Guccione, a three-set winner over fourth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic (4-6, 7-6, 6-4).
The other semifinal has Russian Dmitry Tursunov facing Frenchman Fabrice Santoro. Tursunov defeated Sebastien Grosjean of France in straight sets (6-4, 6-2). Santoro downed Russia's Evgeny Korolev (6-3, 6-3).
The tournament is one of the last events players are using to prepare for the first major tournament of the year, the Australian Open, which starts Monday in Melbourne.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
