Tennis: Clijsters beats Davenport to make final

Kim Clijsters closed in on the world No 1 tennis ranking when she breezed past American Lindsay Davenport 6-3 6-3 yesterday to reach the final of the $US1 million ($1.73 million) Acura Classic.

If the second-ranked Belgian wins the title today against fellow countrywoman Justine Henin-Hardenne and also advances to the later stages of next week's Los Angeles Open, she will leapfrog the injured Serena Williams at the top of the rankings.

Third seed Henin-Hardenne charged into the final with a 6-1 6-3 rout of unseeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.