UPDATE 2-Tennis-Sharapova faces Cibulkova in Amelia Island final

(updates after second semi-final)

By Jeff Elliott

AMELIA ISLAND, Florida, April 12 (Reuters) - Top seed Maria Sharapova reached the Amelia Island championships final after Lindsay Davenport withdrew due to illness on Saturday.

Sharapova's opponent will be unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, who reached her first WTA Tour final when she beat France's Alize Cornet 6-2 2-6 6-4.

"I am so very disappointed to not be able to take to the court today," said the 16th-seeded American announcing she was pulling out of the semi-final against the Russian.

"Obviously, we all wish Lindsay a speedy recovery," said the Russian world number five. "It's always unfortunate especially in the semi-final of a tournament. I was definitely looking forward to the match-up today, but it happens."

Former world number one Davenport, who returned to the Tour last year following a break to have a baby, felt unwell after beating eighth-seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay 6-4 7-6 on Friday. Cibulkova had only advanced to one previous semi-final, that coming last year at the tier III event in Guangzhou where she fell to Virginie Razzano.

"I feel great, just great," Cibulkova said after her victory in two hours and 15 minutes. "I've beaten some great players here in this tournament and now I'm in my first finals."

Cibulkova will now face the top-seeded Sharapova for the first time in her career on Sunday.