Amelia Island, April 13:

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova walked into the final at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, earning a title match meeting with Dominika Cibulkova when Lindsay Davenport withdrew from the semi-finals because of fever and aches.

Cibulkova, an 18-year-old Slovakian reached her first WTA final by beating Alize Cornet 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in the other semi-final.

Davenport’s withdrawal was the first time in her 16 years on the WTA Tour the three-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of an event because of sickness.

Davenport said she began feeling sick after her quarter-final victory on Friday. “I returned to my hotel where the tournament doctor came to see me,” she said. “Unfortunately, I was running a fever, had aches and pains and a headache. Those symptoms have worsened today.” She already had decided to skip next week’s Family Circle Cup in South Carolina. “It’s obviously very strange coming onto the site and not being able to play the semi-final,” Sharapova said.

Cibulkova, who is unseeded and ranked No 34, has knocked out the Nos 2, 11 and 14 seeds on her surprising run through the draw. She will play Sharapova for the first time. “I will try to enjoy it and play my best and be really relaxed,” she said. “I really have nothing to lose.”