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| June 18, 2005 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1426 |
Clijsters to clash with Douchevina in final
EASTBOURNE (England,) June 17: Kim Clijsters polished her game to a grass-court sheen on Friday with three days to go before Wimbledon as she reached the final of the 585,000-dollar Eastbourne Championships on her first attempt.
The Belgian, a four-time Grand Slam finalist without a title at a major, got through a demanding workout to clinch a victory over Russian holder Svetlana Kusnetsova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
The defeat in one hour, 43 minutes leaves Clijsters with a final job to do before Monday’s start at the All England club.
The 22-year-old seventh seed will on Saturday play for her third trophy this season when she takes on qualifier Vera Douchevina, who recovered against Roberta Vinci of Italy to win 2-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.
The 111th-ranked Vinci served for a straight-set victory, but was unable to close it out. Instead, Douchevina, who put out top seed Amelie Mauresmo in the second round, got stuck into a fightback.
The 18-year-old, who made a surprise appearance in the Australian Open fourth round in January, needed five set points to level the sets at one apiece.
As Vinci began to fade, the Russian took command to move into the biggest challenge of her career against Clijsters.
Vinci had earlier closed out a rain-interrupted quarterfinal, dismissing compatriot and fourth seed Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Result (semifinals): Kim Clijsters (BEL) bt Svetlana Kusnetsova (RUS ) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Vera Douchevina (RUS) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA) 2-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.
Quarterfinals: Roberta Vinci (ITA) bt Anastasia Myskina (RUS) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)
PHILIPPOUSSIS IN SEMIS
DEN BOSCH (Netherlands): Australian wildcard Mark Philippoussis continued his renaissance by beating Italian Davide Sanguinetti 7-6 7-6 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Ordina Open.
He recovered from 5-2 down in the second set to advance to his first semifinal since Sept 2003.
Llodra went through with a 6-2 6-7 6-3 triumph over German Lars Burgsmueller.
Having taken the first-set tiebreak 7-2, Philippoussis broke serve in the opening game of the second before dropping his own serve twice as the unseeded Sanguinetti forged 5-2 ahead.
But, after the Italian failed to serve out the set at 5-3, Philippoussis won the tiebreak 7-0.
Unseeded Czech Jan Hernych booked his place in the last four with a 7-6 6-2 victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Klara Koukalova and Lucie Safarova will contest an all-Czech women’s final after both players recorded straight-sets victories.
Eighth seed Koukalova reached the final for the second consecutive year by defeating American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-1 7-5. Unseeded 18-year-old Safarova saw off sixth seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-3 6-3.
Koukalova, who lost to Frenchwoman Mary Pierce in last year’s final, eased past a wayward Shaughnessy, whose usually reliable serve let her down.
The American squandered a 4-2 lead in the second set and three set points as Koukalova recorded a deserved victory.
Results:
Women’s singles (semifinals): Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) bt 6-Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-3 6-3; Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) bt Meghann Shaughnessy (United States) 6-1 7-5
Gasquet, Mirnyi in final
NOTTINGHAM (England): French teenager Richard Gasquet moved closer to lifting his first tour title on his 19th birthday after racing into the final of the Nottingham Open on Friday.
Gasquet eased past big-hitting American Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-2 to book a final showdown against Belarussian Max Mirnyi who later saw off Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-4, 7-5.
But Gasquet insisted he would be postponing his birthday celebrations Saturday to concentrate on Wimbledon next week where he is seeded 27th.
Despite his relative inexperience on grass, breaks early in both sets set Gasquet on his way during his first meeting with Dent.
The Frenchman, seeded fourth, broke in the first game of the match after the American double faulted for a second time.
Gasquet broke for 3-0 and served out with no break points against him.
The French player, who beat world number one Roger Federer in Monte Carlo in April, has previously reached the finals in Metz in 2004 and Hamburg this year.
But he faces another big-serving test against the 6ft 5in Mirnyi, nicknamed The Beast, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2003 and also the doubles final in the same year.
Results (semifinals): Richard Gasquet (FRA) bt Taylor Dent (USA) 6-4, 6-2; Max Mirnyi (BLR) bt Olivier Rochus (BEL) 6-4, 7-5.—Agencies
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