Kim Clijsters won a dramatic semi-final battle of the Belgians against Justin Henin to reach the final of the Sony Ericsson Open on Thursday.
The 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 victory means Clijsters will play for a 37th career title today against Venus Williams, who earlier cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win over France’s Marion Bartoli.
Clijsters dominated the opening set of her encounter with Henin, but then, having been 3-0 up in the second, lost out in a tiebreak to allow the game into a decisive third set.
PHOTO: AFP
Neither of the two former world No. 1s, who have both made comebacks to the game, dominated on serve and Clijsters produced a double fault when serving for the match.
After losing the first two points of the tiebreak, Clijsters roared back to take a 6-3 lead, but once again Henin refused to roll over.
She won the next three points to close to 6-6 before Clijsters produced two great shots — a volley close to the net and then a forehand across the court — to win the match.
Henin praised Clijsters for coming up with the big shots at the right moment.
“It wasn’t a great match, but she played better on the important points,” Henin said. “She was more aggressive and took the opportunities and I think that really made the difference.”
Clijsters also won on a tiebreak the last time the pair met in the final of the Brisbane Open in January.
“It was a very, very similar game and it is pretty crazy to have two matches like that with each other so early in the year,” Clijsters said.
“It’s a good win, but now I am focusing on Saturday, there won’t be any celebrating whatsoever, the tournament is not over,” she added.
■BERDYCH VS SODERLING
REUTERS, MIAMI
Czech Tomas Berdych fought back from a set down to beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 on Thursday and set up a Sony Ericsson Open semi-final against Robin Soderling.
Berdych, the No. 16 who eliminated top seed Roger Federer in the previous round, struggled in the opening set, but came out on top in the tiebreak in the second and produced an aggressive display in the deciding third set.
After another impressive win, Berdych will be confident of getting through to tomorrow’s final. Andy Roddick and Rafa Nadal were to meet in yesterday’s first semi-final.
“The start was quite slow for me because I was still feeling a little bit tired after the long, long match against Roger that finished late in the night,” Berdych said. “But then finally I found my rhythm.”
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS