Venus upsets Serena to reach Dubai final

Venus Williams defeated sister Serena 6-1 2-6 7-6 yesterday to reach the Dubai Championships final.

She next faces unseeded Virginie Razzano of France, who put out 16th seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-1 6-2.

World number one Serena double-faulted twice as Venus broke for a 1-0 lead and then twice more when she broke again to go 4-1 up.

While Serena struggled in the opening set, her sister swept through her three service games without conceding a point.

Serena struck the ball much better in the second, forcing errors instead of making them, and broke serve twice to level the match.

In a highly competitive final set, Serena broke to lead 2-1. She then saved three break points with aces in a remarkable sixth game before conceding a fourth break point.

World number six Venus then had to serve her way out of trouble at 5-5, firing two aces on break points before going on to take the tiebreak 7-3.

"I didn't serve that well and I thought Venus served really well which I think ultimately helped her win the match," Serena said.

Serena appeared to be having problems with her left leg and put it down to playing so many matches this year.

"I'm just playing every match as hard as I can whether I'm hurt or not," she said. "I've just been playing a lot of matches, more than I have in my career, and I'm a little tired."