INDIAN WELLS - Belgium's Kim Clijsters beat world tennis No 1 Lindsay Davenport 6-4 4-6 6-2 to win the Pacific Life Open, capping a remarkable comeback to the top level of the game following wrist surgery.
In only her second tournament after spending most of the past year recovering from
an operation on her left wrist, 2003 champion Clijsters played confidently and aggressively to beat her American opponent in two hours and five minutes.
The unseeded 21-year-old Belgian matched No 1 seed Davenport blow for blow from inside the baseline and accurately found the corners on the big points.
"It's incredible," said Clijsters after winning her second Pacific Life Open title. "It couldn't be any better."
Davenport came out firing in the first set, racing to a 4-0 lead and extending her streak of consecutive games won to 24.
The American had won the final seven games of her quarterfinal against Natalie Dechy and then shocked Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova 6-0 6-0 in the semifinals.
But the Belgian began to find her consistency, showing her legendary speed and tripping up Davenport in lengthy rallies.
Clijsters won seven straight games before Davenport held serve for 1-1 in the second set. Davenport then used her powerful strokes to force the pace, breaking Clijsters to 2-1 when the Belgian missed a forehand. Davenport fought off three break points in the eighth game and won the set when her opponent dumped a backhand into the net.
In the third set, Clijsters wore the 28-year-old Davenport down, breaking to 4-1 when she forced her into a forehand error and never looked back. She broke Davenport again to win the match when the American committed another forehand error.
Clijsters' world ranking will jump to number 38 when new rankings are announced today.
Remarkably, Davenport has failed to beat Clijsters in six attempts in her home state of California but she will retain the number one ranking, leading Amelie Mauresmo by 342 points.
Meanwhile, the top two men's players in the world moved into their final.
Lleyton Hewitt outlasted Andy Roddick in a match that went to three tiebreakers, and defending champion Roger Federer continued his dominating run with a quick victory over Guillermo Canas.
Hewitt edged Roddick 7-6 (2) 6-7 (3) 7-6 (4) in a well-played, entertaining night match that lasted 2hrs 33min.
Federer needed just 1hr 13min to beat Canas.
- REUTERS
INDIAN WELLS - Belgium's Kim Clijsters beat world tennis No 1 Lindsay Davenport 6-4 4-6 6-2 to win the Pacific Life Open, capping a remarkable comeback to the top level of the game following wrist surgery.
In only her second tournament after spending most of the past year recovering from
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