September 30, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 17, 1428

SEOUL, Sept 29: Top seed Venus Williams reached the final of the WTA Korea Open in Seoul on Saturday, cruising past Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2.

Venus, the world’s ninth-ranked player, will face Maria Kirilenko in Sunday’s final. The Russian dispatched Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 7-5, 6-0 in the day’s other semi-final.

Venus took the first set in 36 minutes, but her Italian opponent, the only unseeded player in the semi-finals, put some early pressure on the top seed.

Pennetta broke the American’s serve at the start of the match and had a chance to go up 2-0 up, leading 40-15 in the second game. But Venus, the reigning Wimbledon champion, came back with four straight points to break the Italian’s serve.Venus conceded the opening game of the second set, but promptly broke Pennetta’s serve and did not look back.

Venus, serving as fast as 201 kilometres per hour, went on to take six of the last seven games to secure her berth in the final.

In the day’s second semi-final, Kirilenko had a see-saw first set against defending champion Daniilidou, winning the first three games and then losing the next three before prevailing 7-5. The Russian made quick work of the Greek in the second set, winning it 6-0.

Saturday’s results (x denotes seeding):

Venus Williams (US x1) bt Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 6-2, 6-2; Maria Kirilenko (RUS x4) bt Eleni Daniilidou (GRE x5) 7-5, 6-0.

BECKER FACES TURSUNOV IN FINAL

BANGKOK: Benjamin Becker will ride a confidence surge when he plays in Sunday’s title clash with Russian Dmitry Tursunov at the Thailand Open, his first career ATP final.

The 79th-ranked German dominated in the last set and a half against third seed Tomas Berdych to send the Czech limping out in their semi-final 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.

Berdych took two bouts of on-court treatment over the course of the last three games, for his back and his left knee.

Earlier, Russian sixth seed Tursunov had to manage his own nerves before nailing down a 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4 win over Fernando Verdasco, the Spanish number eight.

Becker, who made his name as the man who sent Andre Agassi into retirement at last year’s US Open, was shocked at his comeback over Berdych, who may have effectively killed his chances for a place in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai in two months.

The Czech took tenth in the race for the eight-man field.

Since Wimbledon, Becker has lost seven opening matches, a hard-luck streak which he has smashed in Bangkok.

The 29th-ranked Tursunov, who lifted the Indianapolis title two months ago and them promptly lost his next three first-round matches, will play his second final of the season on Sunday.

The Russian struck 11 aces, while eighth seed Verdasco had only three but managed seven frustrating double-faults.

Saturday’s results:

Semi-finals: Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x6) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP x8) 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4; Benjamin Becker (GER) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x3) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.—Agencies