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Davenport Upset, Venus Advances

Defending champion Kim Clijsters recovered from a set down and a shaky serve to defeat second seeded Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 Saturday to advance to the Bank of the West Classic final.

Fourth-seeded Clijsters will face top seed Venus Williams, who defeated Lisa Raymond earlier in the day, in the title match on Sunday.

"Those great players, you have to take advantage when they're not playing their best games -- and that's what I did today,'' Clijsters said.

Second-seeded Davenport, playing in her first tour event since November because of a serious knee injury, came out with confidence while Clijsters struggled to find her serve.

A pair of double faults gave Davenport the advantage in a tight first set but up 4-2 in the second set and in position to close out the match, Davenport suddenly lost her edge. Clijsters held serve to go up 5-4, then broke Davenport to win the set.

Davenport's frustration grew as Clijsters, ranked No. 5, won seven straight games during the match. Davenport won just six points during the stretch.

"I didn't feel like I was controlling the points anymore,'' Davenport said.

Davenport injured her right knee last in the semifinals of the Sanex Championships against Clijsters. She had surgery in January.

"I made great strides this week,'' said Davenport, who was in good spirits after the match. "These are just the situations I'm going to have to deal with.''

Venus Gains a Final Berth

In the earlier semifinal match at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, Williams overpowered unseeded Raymond 6-3, 6-0 in just 51 minutes..

Williams, ranked No. 2 in the world behind her sister, Serena, hammered serves reaching 118 mph to fluster Raymond, ranked No. 28.

"It's always pretty effective, but when it's really effective it's better for me,'' Williams said of her serve. "It makes the match a little easier.''

Williams knocked off two consecutive aces to close out the first set, the first at 111 mph and the second at 110 mph. She finished the match with nine aces.

Raymond remained good-natured throughout, raising her hands in victory when she won a rare point in the second set. The crowd responded with warm applause.

Raymond, at 28 the oldest player in the semifinals, upset third-seeded Monica Seles on Friday in the quarterfinals to advance.

Williams lost her world No. 1 ranking to her sister, Serena, in the Wimbledon final, dropping to the No. 2 ranking.

"Once you get to No. 1, it's not so nice to go back to No. 2,'' she said. "Once you get to that level, you try to maintain it.''

Serena Williams was not playing in the Bank of the West, but was spotted in Los Angeles watching the Mercedes-Benz Cup match between Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten on Friday.

"Maybe she's trying to learn something,'' Williams said. "Maybe I should be there, too.''

Results

[1] Venus Williams (USA) def. Lisa Raymond (USA) (6-3, 6-0)

[1] Lisa Raymond (USA) / Rennae Stubbs (AUS)def. [3] Anna Kournikova (RUS) / Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) (Walk Over)

[4] Kim Clijsters (BEL) def. [2] Lindsay Davenport (USA) (4-6, 6-4, 6-2)

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