WARSAW, April 30: Kim Clijsters’ 17-match winning streak was ended by Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals of the WTA event in Warsaw on Saturday. Clijsters, who had won consecutive tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami, lost 2-6 6-2 6-3. After splitting the opening two sets, Clijsters had plenty of opportunities in the third, breaking for 2-1 and holding three points to lead 3-1.
Kuznetsova will face Justine Henin-Hardenne or Ana Ivanovic, who are both unseeded, in the final.
Pavel guns down Haas
MUNICH (GERMANY): Romanian fifth seed Andrei Pavel reached the final of the 323,250 euro (419,754 dollar) BMW Open with an epic 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 victory over Germany’s Tommy Haas here on Saturday.
Argentina’s number one seed David Nalbandian and Finnish qualifier Jarkko Nieminen battle it out for the right to face Pavel in final.
Safina beaten
ESTORIL (PORTUGAL): Na Li announced the inevitable advance of Chinese women’s tennis on Saturday as she crushed slumping second seed Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-1 to reach the final of the Estoril Open.
RESULTS (SEMIFINALS):
Women: Na Li (CHN) bt Dinara Safina (RUS) 6-1, 6-1; Lucie Safarova (CZE) bt Gisela Dulko (ARG) 7-6 (7/3), 6-0
Men: Tommy Robredo (SPA) bt Carlos Moya (SPA) 6-3, 3-0 (retired); Gaston Gaudio (ARG ) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP).—Agencies