Davenport is a former world number one

Davenport, in only her fifth match since returning from five months out with a back problem, beat Australian Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7).

The 30-year-old American will now meet Justine Henin-Hardenne, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the other semi.

The Belgian second seed eased through 6-3 6-3 against the Russian.

Henin-Hardenne, playing her first event since Wimbledon, said: "It's been a pretty positive week for me.

"By making the final, I will get four matches this week, so that's the best I could dream of when I came here in New Haven."

Everything is being used more than it has been for quite a while Lindsay Davenport

Davenport missed five match points before finally clinching her victory when a Stosur return sailed out of court.

The match took more than two hours and Davenport admitted she was starting to feel the effects of her efforts this week.

"I'm feeling fatigued," she said. "I played more tennis this week than I have in six months.

"It's an adjustment for my body. My shoulder was getting really heavy - it wasn't hurt - but it just feels like everything is being used more than it has been for quite a while."

Davenport has lost her past six meetings with Henin-Hardenne but hopes to end the sequence on Saturday.

"It would be nice if I could change that tide sooner rather than later," she said. She's a very tough opponent and she plays very well against me."