09 May 2004	Sunday	18 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

BERLIN, May 8: Venus Williams was stretched by little-known Croatian teenager Karolina Sprem in the semifinals of the German Open in Berlin, but survived to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and keep on track for her third successive title.

Her opponent in Sunday's final will be 2001 champion, and number two seed, Amelie Mauresmo who overwhelmed sixth seed Jennifer Capriati 6-2, 6-0.

Sprem demonstrated why she has quietly risen to 25 in the world. Hitting deep, she forced the third seeded American into errors, mixed her game up well.

It was typical of her performance that in the first set she set up set point with an ace and then forced a netted return, and in the second she recovered an early break with a fine backhand winner down the line.

But nerves began to play a part late in the set, and Williams was able to break her to love to lead 5-3 and serve out to level the match.

Williams then left the court for several minutes to receive treatment for a left hip strain, and with the American spraying balls upon the re-start Sprem was able to establish a 3-0 lead.

But Williams refused to concede, became more aggressive and again took advantage as Sprem began to falter slightly at the final stages of the set.

Clearly suffering from her hip and a bandaged left thigh, Williams failed to convert her first two match points, hitting a backhand long on the first and double-faulting on the second, and she leapt for joy when Sprem finally netted on the third.

Mauresmo again finished strongly, as she had in the quarterfinals against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

There was little to separate the players in the early stages of a match that consisted almost entirely of the players exchanging groundstrokes while trying to find the angle for a winner.

The only flair came from Mauresmo's trademark backhand, but she had to wait until the sixth game to gain an advantage.

The second seed from France forced an error from Capriati after getting the upper hand in a lengthy rally to break for 4-2, and she broke again for the set with a winning crosscourt forehand.

Mauresmo, who also reached the final as a qualifier in 1998 and won the title in 2001, loosened up once the first set was won. Running well and playing the lines, she eventually dominated her frustrated opponent.

A Capriati forehand into the net gave her a break for 2-0, and a blistering backhand down the line gave Mauresmo a second break for 4-0.

Semifinal results: Venus Williams (USA) bt Karolina Sprem (CRO) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) bt Jennifer Capriati (USA) 6-2, 6-0.

Nalbandian IN FINAL

ROME: Fifth seed David Nalbandian became the first Argentine to reach the final of the Rome Masters for 13 years when he beat Albert Costa 6-7 6-1 6-4 on Saturday.

In Sunday's final, Nalbandian will face the winner of Carlos Moya and Mariano Zabaleta.

The first set, which was dominated by serve, was close. Of the 11 points scored against the server on the way to 6-6, three were double faults by Nalbandian.

Having reached the tie break, however, Nalbandian committed a series of unforced errors to gift his opponent four set points.-Agencies