Final run for Razzano

Dubai: First-time finalist Virginie Razzano had neither of the Williams sisters on her mind, but a refreshing visit to the spa was to come first, following her easy 6-1, 6-2 win against Kaia Kanepi in Friday's singles semifinals of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

"For me either of them will do in the final. I have played Venus three or four times, but I have never played Serena, so maybe I would want to play her in the final," Razzano told media.

"But right now, I am thinking of how I want to celebrate and digest my win here. And the best is that I go to the spa for some treatment," she laughed.

Razzano was intimidating against a flushed opponent as she got her first break in the fourth for 3-1 and then held for 4-1 in the first set.

The Frenchwoman kept up the pressure and broke Kanepi a second time and then served out for the set 6-1 in 31 minutes.

Kanepi continued her dismal showing making too many mistakes as Razzano broke in the very first game and then held to go 2-0 up. But then in a sudden resurgence, Kanepi held and broke back for 2-2.

However, that was all she could manage as Razzano broke her Estonian opponent two more times in the fifth and seventh games and then held to win set and match 6-2 in a little over one hour.

Razzano was not surprised with the way she has performed here. "I have practiced a lot and put in some hard work in November and December, so I think this is all paying off now," said the Frenchwoman. Razzano likes to take it one match at a time, and never wants to look at the full draw at every tournament due to this practice. "It's not a superstition, but it's because I want to go out there and play one match at a time," Razzano explained.

"I know a lot of other players who also do the same such as Agnieszka Radwanska," she added.

"I believe in my tennis ability and I know I have the game to beat the top-10 and top-20 players. Maybe things will be better this year as I have scheduled my calendar well," she added.

The 25-year-old Frenchwoman has played Venus three times, winning once when she beat her American opponent in three sets at the final of the Japan Open in 2007.

Little did Razzano know she could have been in the final here when she set out for this tournament, especially after a disappointing outing at last week's GDF Suez Open in Paris.

"I was not feeling like playing here in Dubai. But somehow, I had the conviction that the tennis was inside me," Razzano stated.