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Take that, kid Davenport demolishes Clijsters in 48 minutes
Updated: Tuesday July 03, 2001 7:18 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Third seed Lindsay Davenport surged into a Wimbledon semifinal clash with Venus Williams after beating Belgian teenager Kim Clijsters 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. The American, champion here in 1999, was ruthless with her powerful attacking game in the 21-minute first set on Centre Court and lost only three points on serve. Seventh seed Clisters, making her first appearance in the quarterfinals at the All England Club, set the tone by losing her serve in the first game of the match to hand Davenport an instant advantage. The Belgian struggled to find her rhythm on serve and sent down three doubles faults to hand Davenport a 4-1 lead in the opening set. With her trademark groundstrokes misfiring in all directions, the French Open finalist could do little to stop the flow of powerful winners generated from Davenport's racket. The 25-year-old American, into her third successive semifinal here, has yet to drop a set at this year's championship and has chalked up a 10-match winning streak on grass following her victory at Eastbourne 10 days ago.
Clijsters, who had been hoping to join compatriot Justine Henin in the last four, admitted she was outclassed by a better player. "She played too good for me today. I couldn't put enough pressure on her return game," the seventh seed said. "I was losing my serve quite easily all the time and that's what made the difference. "It's so hard to beat her when she serves well and because she goes for every shot it's also hard to find your rhythm." Clijsters, watched by boyfriend and defeated men's fifth seed Lleyton Hewitt, battled bravely in the second set and even managed to break Davenport in the first and fourth games. But Davenport never allowed the 18-year-old to settle and broke back immediately on both occasions. "Kim didn't play too well today and that was unfortunate," Davenport said. "She's a great player and can do a lot better than the way she played today." Despite playing only her second tournament after a three-month injury layoff, Davenport moved swiftly around the court to extend her winning streak to 4-0 over Clijsters. The American turned on the power when it mattered to wrap up the match on her second match point with a forehand winner after only 48 minutes. Thursday's semifinal against Venus Williams will be a repeat of last year's final, where Davenport lost in straight sets.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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