New York, Sept 05: There's not a Williams sister in sight but the US Open women's semi-finals have managed to find some drama without the past four champions, thanks to a pair of United States versus Belgium showdowns.
World number one Kim Clijsters and second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, the French Open champion, will face home-nation favorites Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati here today for berths in tomorrow's championship final.
"That's what everybody has been talking about this whole tournament," Davenport said. "They want these matchups. You know Kim and Justine want to play each other in the finals. Jennifer and I would love to face each other."
Both Serena and Venus Williams, who have met in six of the past eight slam finals, are absent with injuries. Form has otherwise held here despite four days in a row of rains that disrupted schedules and tested patience.
"The last four days have just been a fog and now the semis are here," Capriati said. "It's like a different tournament almost."



Clijsters faces Davenport, whom she has already defeated four times this year without a loss, while Henin-Hardenne has a 3-2 mark against three-time slam winner Capriati.



"This is going to be the match for me," Capriati said. "I have to play my best tennis but expect much better opposition. Even though I'm at the US Open, she is the one you would think should win just by the record."



Capriati later admitted, "on the inside I think I'm the one who should win."


Bureau Report