Associated Press

Doha, February 26:

Alicia Molik of Australia upset top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo 7-6, 6-1 and will play Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in the Qatar Open final. Second-seeded Sharapova dispatched Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-4.

Mauresmo’s defeat prevented her from retaking the No 1 WTA Tour ranking on Monday from Lindsay Davenport, and ended her bid for a second title in two weeks after winning in Antwerp last weekend.

Fourth-seeded Molik, who lost to Mauresmo in the Antwerp semi-finals, turned the tables on Friday despite a five-hour rain delay. Molik prevailed in the 24-point, first-set tiebreak when Mauresmo netted two consecutive returns after both fought off five set points.

Dubai Open:

DUBAI: Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat third-seeded Tim Henman 7-5, 6-4 for the fourth time in a row in a rain-marred quarter-final of the Dubai Open.

In the only other quarter-final possible on Friday, fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain topped Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-4, 6-4. In other quarter-finals, which were postponed on Friday because of persistent rain and completed on Saturday, No 4 Andre Agassi of the United States defeated sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-4, 7-6, wjile top-seed Roger Federer of Switzerland beat No 7 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 7-5.