San Diego, Aug 03: Kim Clijsters beats Lindsay Davenport in semifinal of Acura Classic Belgium's Kim Clijsters went through to the final of the Acura Classic on Saturday (August 2) with a comfortable 6-3 6-3 semifinal win over American Lindsay Davenport. The second-seeded Belgian took the first set with the only service break coming in the sixth game. Davenport had break point in the seventh game. But a trademark Clijsters return whilst almost performing the splits retrieved the situation. Trailing 5-2, Davenport saved three set points before Clijsters served out for the opening set. Clijsters broke early in the second set to lead 2-1. Davenport, seeded four, briefly rallied to level at 3-3. But she was immediately broken again and did not win another game as Clijsters wrapped up a victory she had never looked like losing. It was the twelfth time the two had met. They now have six wins each but Davenport has lost five of her last six encounters with the Belgian.


Clijsters has been the most dominant player in this year's tournament, after defeating Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual, Marion Bartoli of France and American Lisa Raymond with the loss of only eight games before Saturday.


After suffering from a left foot injury, Davenport had been in good form at the La Costa Resort in San Diego with virtually no pain in her foot all this week. The hard-serving American had looked impressive in victories over fellow Americans, Amy Frazier and Chanda Rubin, as well as Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya. But against the more mobile Clijsters she was made to struggle.


In Sunday's final Clijsters will meet either third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne or 18-year-old Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Henin-Hardenne beat Clijsters in this year's all-Belgian French Open final.

Bureau Report