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Battle of Belgians Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne to butt heads in Acura finalPosted: Saturday August 02, 2003 7:13 PMUpdated: Sunday August 03, 2003 12:56 AM
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) -- Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters advanced to the championship of the Acura Classic on Saturday, setting up a rematch of this year's French Open final between the Belgium countrywomen. Henin-Hardenne, the reigning French champion, beat unseeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 in the evening semifinal of the $1 million tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa. Earlier, Clijsters moved into position to win her second hard-court title in two weeks by topping Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 6-3. Clijsters won her tour-leading fifth title last week at the Bank of West Classic. In the French Open final on clay, Henin-Hardenne beat Clijsters 6-0, 6-4. They later played on grass in the Netherlands with Clijsters prevailing in the second set when Henin-Hardenne retired. Clijsters leads their all-time series 8-6 with a 4-1 edge on the hard-court surface used at this tourney. "I'll have to play great to win," Henin-Hardenne said. "It's great for Belgium to have Kim and me in the final again. I know her well, and she knows me." The third-seeded Henin-Hardenne jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set against Kuznetsova before being broken for the only time in the match. Kuznetsova then had three game points on her service, but Henin-Hardenne recovered to win the first of six straight games. In their only previous meeting, Henin-Hardenne beat Kuznetsova in this year's Wimbledon quarterfinals 6-2, 6-2. "It was more tough in Wimbledon," Kuznetsova said. "I played a good game here, but I was a bit unlucky. She's a top player, and she knows how to play well at the right moments." Henin-Hardenne had 16 winners and 18 unforced errors, while Kuznetsova committed 29 unforced errors with 10 winners. "I knew I had to be aggressive," Henin-Hardenne said. "She hits hard, and she's very aggressive, so I went many times to the net." It took Clijsters only 59 minutes to dispatch the fourth-seeded Davenport. In each of her four tourney matches, Clijsters has prevailed in less than an hour without losing a set. "I feel like I'm reading the game very well," Clijsters said. "I already know where my opponent is going to hit the ball before it's hit. With my movement, I never feel I'm in trouble, even if I play a few long rallies." She has won three straight matches against three-time major champion Davenport to even their career series at 6-6. In the second set Saturday, Clijsters won 12 straight points to take a 3-1 lead. Davenport made it 3-3, though, thanks to her only service break of the match. But then Clijsters broke Davenport's serve on the way to winning the final three games. Davenport "tried to serve and volley a little, tried to keep the rallies shorter," Clijsters said. "Those are signs that she's not as comfortable out there. That gives you a little bit of a boost, when you know your opponent isn't that comfortable out there." Clijsters eventually prevailed on her fifth match point, when Davenport hit a shot into the net. Earlier in the final game, Davenport had two of her six double-faults in the match. "I felt OK, but I just didn't come out with my 'A' game," Davenport said. Effective from the baseline, Clijsters finished with 28 winners and 21 unforced errors. Davenport had just 15 winners and 34 unforced errors. "I felt she was really in control of the rallies," Davenport said. "That's a position that I really can't afford to be in against her. You've got to work hard to get on top of the rallies and get her reaching more. I wasn't able to do that."
Kuznetsova reached the semifinals from the bracket that was
depleted by the withdrawal of top-ranked Serena Williams and
Jennifer Capriati because of injuries.
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