Maria Sharapova reached the final of the Amelia Island championships in Florida after Lindsay Davenport withdrew because of illness.

Davenport, who felt unwell after beating Agnes Szavay in Friday's quarter-finals, said: "I returned to my hotel where the doctor came to see me.

"Unfortunately, I was running a fever, had aches and pains and a headache. Those symptoms have worsened today."

Sharapova will play Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in Sunday's final.

Cibulkova, ranked 34 in the world, defeated fellow teenager Alize Cornet of France 6-2 2-6 6-4.

Sharapova moves into the final of a clay-court tournament for the first time and said she could use a day of rest having played back-to-back three-set matches that took a total of six hours and 11 minutes to complete.

"I've obviously been playing a few more hours than I wanted to in the last few days," said the Russian world number five.