The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Davenport enters final

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Saturday, Jan 05, 2008
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Davenport enters final

AUCKLAND: Former world No.1 Lindsay Davenport reached her third final in four tournaments since her comeback as she beat Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-4, 6-3 at the WTA ASB Classic on Friday.

The American, who returned to the tour in September after a year out in which she had her first child, hit 10 aces on her way to victory.

In the final, Davenport will play unseeded Aravane Rezai of France, who ended the surprise run of home wildcard Marina Erakovic 6-3 7-5.

“I still want to do a few things a little better,” Davenport said.

“(But) to reach the final here is a great way to start the year, regardless what happens tomorrow.”

Bouncing back

Davenport dropped her first service game to sixth seed Paszek, but broke back in the sixth game and then broke again four games later to take the first set.

The American then eased through the second set to make it 17 wins out of 18 matches since her return.

“She’s a great young player,” Davenport said of Paszek. “It was fun to play her. She plays differently from some of the other players I’ve played here this week.”

Repeating Queen’s Club

At Adelaide, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt’s chances of winning his hometown Next Generation Adelaide International for a third time, beating the Australian 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Tsonga, 22, defeated Hewitt last year at the Queen’s Club in London and was dominant again over the former No. 1 Hewitt.

At Gold Coast, China’s Li Na continued her giant-killing run at WTA Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts on Friday, beating fourth seed Patty Schnyder 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the final.

The results: At Auckland: WTA ASB Classic: Semifinals: Lindsay Davenport bt Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-3; Aravane Rezai bt Marina Erakovic 6-3, 7-5.

At Gold Coast: WTA Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts: Semifinals: Li Na bt Patty Schnyder 3-6, 6-3, 7-5; Victoria Azarenka bt Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-2.

At Adelaide: ATP

Next Generation Adelaide International: Quarterfinals: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6-2; Joseph Sirianni bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(6); Michael Llodra bt Benjamin Becker 7-6(5), 6-4; Jarkko Nieminen bt Vince Spadea 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 7-6(5).

At Doha: ATP: Qatar ExxonMobil Open: Semifinals: Stanislas Wawrinka bt Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(1), 6-4. — Agencies

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