Serena drubs Clijsters as US qualify for final: Hopman Cup
Williams, beaten by Clijsters in the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles in November, avenged the defeat with a battling women’s singles performance, winning 7-5, 6-3 in 67 minutes.
The Belgians hit back to level at 1-1 when Xavier Malisse beat James Blake 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 in the second rubber at the Burswood Dome.
Then the Americans clinched victory when they won the decisive mixed doubles 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 10-5 (in a Super Tiebreaker).
In Saturday’s final of the million-dollar (540,000 US) nine-nation mixed teams event, Williams and Blake will line up against Australia’ s world number one Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik.
Both countries will be attempting to win the crown for the second time.
In Friday’s women’s singles, Williams was desperate to atone for her defeat to Clijsters in Los Angeles. In recent days, the pair had put their own slants on the result of that match.
Williams claimed she went down because she was tired after a heavy playing schedule had left her drained.
But Clijsters argued that she had beaten the world’s best player on merit and rejected Williams’ excuse for the loss.
In the opening set, a determined Williams raced to a 3-0 lead, breaking her opponent in the first and third games.
But Clijsters fought back resolutely, breaking Williams’ serve in the fourth and sixth games to level at 3-3, before leading 4-3.
Fortunes continued to fluctuate, with Williams breaking Clijsters for the fourth time in the 11th game to lead 6-5 and then holding to take the set after an engrossing 41 minutes.
In the second set, Williams romped to a 4-0 advantage, breaking Clijsters in the first and third games, before completing her victory with relative ease.
In the men’s singles, Malisse gradually asserted, clinching his win when he snatched four games in a row in the second set.
In a match which had no bearing on final considerations, Spain gained their first win of the tournament when they defeated Uzbekistan 2-1.
After Virginia Ruano Pascual had lost to Iroda Tulyaganova 6-7 (6/8), 0-6, Tommy Robredo made it 1-1 by beating Oleg Ogorodov 6-0, 6-4.
Ruano Pascual and Robredo settled the issue, winning the mixed doubles 6-2, 6-4.
Results Group A
U.S. bt Belgium 2-1 (U.S. names first)
James Blake/Serena Williams bt Xavier Malisse/Kim Clijsters 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 10-5 match tiebreak (first to 10 points);
James Blake lost to Xavier Malisse 6-7 (6-8) 2-6;
Serena Williams bt Kim Clijsters 7-5 6-3
Uzbekistan lost to 6-Spain 1-2 (Uzbek names first)
Oleg Ogorodov/Iroda Tulyaganova lost to Tommy Robredo/Virginia Ruano Pascual 2-6 4-6; Iroda Tulyaganova bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 7-6 (8-6) 6-0; Oleg Ogorodov lost to Tommy Robredo 0-6 4-6.
Hardcourt results
ADELAIDE: Results from matches in the Australian men’s hardcourt tennis championship on Friday:
Quarterfinals: Nikolay Davydenko bt Mariano Zabaleta 7-6 (7-3) 6-1; Kristof Vliegen bt Alberto Martin 6-3 6-4; Richard Krajicek bt Brian Vahaly 6-1 6-3; Adrian Voinea bt Anthony Dupuis 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Hardcourt results
GOLD COAST: Results from the Australian women’s hardcourt tennis championships at Royal Pines Resort here on Friday (x denotes seeding):
Singles semifinals: Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian bt Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2; Nathalie Dechy bt Elena Bovina 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
WTA results
AUCKLAND: Results from the WTA tennis tournament played here Friday.
Singles semifinals:
Yoon Jeong Cho bt Anna Pistolesi 7-6 (7-2) 2-2 (Pistolesi retired hurt); Eleni Daniilidou bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4 6-3.
Indian Open results
CHENNAI: Results from the 400,000-dollar ATP Indian Open tennis tournament here on Friday.
Men’s singles: Quarterfinals
Karol Kucera bt Guillermo Canas 6-1, 7-5; Jean-Rene Lisnard bt Rainer Schuettler 6-2, 7-5; Juan Chela bt Tomas Behrend 6-4, 6-3; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Sargis Sargsian 6-4, 6-4.
Qatar Open results
DOHA: Semifinal results from the $1 million Qatar Open ATP tennis tournament on Friday:
Stefan Koubek bt Younes El Aynaoui 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5); Jan-Michael Gambill bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-4 6-2.