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| January 24, 2003 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 20, 1423 |
Williams’ into final as Agassi rolls on
MELBOURNE, Jan 23: Serena Williams produced the fightback of her life to set up a fourth consecutive Grand Slam final with big sister Venus and Andre Agassi steamrolled towards a fourth Australian Open crown here Friday.
World number one Serena fought back from 5-1 down in the third set of her semi-final against Belgian fourth seed Kim Clijsters to clinch a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 as Venus swept aside Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-3, 6-3.
In the men’s tournament, second seed and favourite Andre Agassi blitzed Wayne Ferreira in just 88 minutes to win 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 and will now play either fellow American Andy Roddick or Germany’s Rainer Schuettler in the final.
Clijsters had two match points on serve with the score at 5-2 in the decider but was unable to take either of them as the top seed produced a fabulous return and an instinctive volley to hang on and then break.
Clijsters, the girlfriend of Australian world number one Lleyton Hewitt, had another opportunity to serve for the match in the 10th game, but fumbled, committing two double faults as Williams scored a break.
Williams held and then broke serve, producing a string of winners to reach her fourth consecutive Grand Slam final and her first appearance in the Australian Open final.
While Serena took the scenic route into Saturday’s final, Venus opted for a brisk defeat of Henin-Hardenne in her semi on the Rod Laver Arena.
In the men’s semifinal, Agassi made it 11 straight wins against Ferreira with a ruthless display.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion was in immaculate touch on Thursday, breaking 31-year-old Ferreira’s service six times and crunching 32 winners to 21. He served at a high 73 percent.
The 32-year-old Las Vegan has now won 20 consecutive matches at the Australian Open.
As the two-time defending champion, Agassi withdrew on the opening morning of last year’s Open with a wrist injury.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Semifinal:
Men’s: 2-Andre Agassi (U.S.) beat Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) 6-2 6-2 6-3
Women’s: 1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 4-6 6-3 7-5; 2-Venus Williams (U.S.) beat 5-Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) 6-3 6-3—Reuters
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