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Still a bridesmaid Kournikova fades late, Williams advances to Acura finalsPosted: Saturday August 03, 2002 7:16 PMUpdated: Sunday August 04, 2002 1:36 AM
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) -- Anna Kournikova's improbable run ended with a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 6-0 loss to No. 6 seed Jelena Dokic. In the day semifinal, Top-seeded Venus Williams beat No. 3 seed Lindsay Davenport 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals of the Acura Classic on Saturday night at La Costa Resort and Spa. Williams, the two-time defending champion, and Dokic will square off in the championship Sunday. Williams holds a 2-1 lead in head-to-head competition. "Venus presents all sorts of problems," Dokic said. "The power and speed of her game is very hard to beat. She doesn't make many mistakes." Williams only needed one hour to put away the overwhelmed Davenport. With the first set tied 2-2, Williams won eight straight to take command. "It is one of those things that I definitely was not prepared to play at the level I needed to tonight," Davenport said. "It happened so fast. It just kept going and going and getting worse and worse, like a nightmare." Williams evened her head-to-head record against Davenport to 10-10, but her victory Saturday night was the most lopsided in the series. Davenport is playing in only her second WTA tournament since right knee surgery in January. "Lindsay has had a great tournament getting to the semis," Williams said. "It is just not easy to come back." It took Dokic two hours to eliminate Kournikova in a match that included two set tiebreakers. "I think mentally I am a very strong person," Dokic said. "I usually play tiebreakers and third games very well. I usually play the key points well." Kournikova, who played with her left thigh wrapped, used the momentum from her first-set victory and the support of the crowd to lead 5-4 in the middle set. She had two match points on Dokic's serve, but Dokic held on and forced another tiebreaker. "I had those two chances and Dokic served really, really well," Kournikova said. "There wasn't much that I could do with [the two serves]." With Kournikova's fatigue setting in due to five matches in five days, Dokic took advantage and won the decisive third in just 21 minutes. "Today the pace was much faster," Kournikova said. "I got tired when I finished the first set." Dokic is attempting to win her sixth WTA tournament. Her most recent tour victory was at Birmingham, England, in June. "I've got nothing to lose right now," said Dokic, who defeated No. 2 seed Jennifer Capriati on Friday. "Sunday, I will just go out and play and see what happens." Kournikova is without a championship in 113 WTA tournaments, reaching the final three times. "I'm really happy with my results in this tournament in general," Kournikova said. "This tournament has been great, everything has come together and I'm winning more and more matches."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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