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Safina beats Azarenka for place in Berlin final

Dinara Safina added Victoria Azarenka to the scalps of Justine Henin and Serena Williams
Dinara Safina added Victoria Azarenka to the scalps of Justine Henin and Serena Williams

Dinara Safina of Russia booked a place in the German Open final with a 6-4 6-1 win over unseeded Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka.

The 22-year-old 13th seed has beaten world number one Justine Henin and eight times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams this week and will play Russian Elena Dementieva in Sunday's final.

World number two Ana Ivanovic suffered a surprise 6-2 7-5 defeat by Dementieva in the other semi-final.

The 20-year-old Serbian made far too many unforced errors and was broken five times by the Russian seventh seed.

Safina faced a stiff challenge from 18-year-old Azarenka in the first set, losing her serve twice in the sunshine at the Steffi Graf stadium.

But the Belarussian appeared to be struggling with a knee injury in the second set, which severely hampered her movement, and Safina cruised to victory in just under 90 minutes.

It was her first match against Azarenka, who has had her best run at a tier one event in Berlin and will break into the top 20 for the first time when the rankings are updated.

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