Clijsters to face Mauresmo in Antwerp final

By Darren Ennis

ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) – World number one Kim Clijsters
is surprised to be in Sunday’s final at the Proximus Diamond
Games where she will face France’s Amelie Mauresmo.

After crushing fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 5-7
6-1 6-2, she told Reuters: “Considering my up and down week, I
am still quite surprised to have made the final.”

Holder Mauresmo booked her spot earlier on Saturday with a
6-4 7-5 victory over Russian fourth seed Nadia Petrova.

Sunday’s clash of the U.S. and Australian Open champions
will be their first since Clijsters was forced to retire with a
foot injury in last month’s Australian Open semi-final.

“I will have an extra incentive of course to win because of
the way it ended in Melbourne. But I just hope we both play a
good aggressive game like we’ve done in the past,” Clijsters
said.

World number two Mauresmo also expects a tough encounter.

“Kim in the final is of course great for the crowd, but
will be extra hard for me,” Mauresmo told Reuters. “I am
expecting a very tough game. Kim is a very dangerous player.”

FIGHTBACK

Top seed Clijsters was forced to fight back after falling
behind against Dementieva.

The Russian took an opening set that could have gone either
way with both players unconvincing in their service games,
which led to a series of breaks before Dementieva ended the
deadlock in the 11th game to take the set.

But the Belgian put on her best performance of the week so
far to race into a 3-0 lead before eventually sewing up the
second set with the loss of just one game.

“I had a toilet break and just thought about what I was
doing out there,” she said. “I began to hit the ball better and
it was the best I played all week.”

The 22-year-old started the third set where she left off in
the second, surging into a 4-0 lead. The Russian hit back but
Clijsters proved too strong in the end.

Sunday’s final will be second-seeded Mauresmo’s third in
succession, after wins in Melbourne last month and Paris last
week.

The Frenchwoman, unbeaten in 14 matches, was more
comfortable in her victory over Petrova, taking the first set
with a break in the ninth game.

Petrova led 5-3 in the second but Mauresmo fought back,
taking the next four games to reach the final.

“I hope there’s still more to come. I didn’t feel too good
in the first two rounds but today was much better,” she said.