Hingis sets up title clash with Davenport

Scottsdale (USA), March 5: Top seed Martina Hingis needed little more than an hour to defeat third-seeded Mary Pierce and set up a clash w...

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Scottsdale (USA), March 5: Top seed Martina Hingis needed little more than an hour to defeat third-seeded Mary Pierce and set up a clash with her nemesis, Lindsay Davenport.

Hingis, who reached her third final of the season, has lost her last four encounters with Davenport, all in straight sets. The biggest of those defeats came in the final of the Australian Open in January. Davenport is 10-8 all-time against Hingis.

Pierce had lost just six games and spent a total of one hour, 42 minutes on the court in her first two victories before running into Hingis.

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The 19-year-old Hingis set the tone late in first set, winning the final two games. The duo again was even at 3-3 in the second set before Hingis took the final three games to move on. The match lasted 72 minutes.

Davenport needed just 55 minutes to reach her third straight final of the year. She will be seeking her 28th career singles title.

Davenport also set an early tone as she broke Kournikova in the first game of the match. She broke again in the seventh game for a 5-2 advantage, and served out the set.

A frustrated Kournikova again lost her serve in the first game of the second set. The Russian showed signs of a rally when she broke Davenport in the fourth game, but Davenport quickly brushed it off by breaking Kournikova at love for a 3-2 lead and broke again for a 5-2 advantage and a chance to serve out the match.

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Kournikova managed to save one match point in the eighth game but Davenport came right back with an ace. A netted forehand by Kournikova on the next point allowed Davenport to improve to 13-1 this season on hard courts, including 3-0 against the Russian.

Qualifier stuns Goldstein

DELRAY BEACH: Qualifier Alex Calatrava overcame American Paul Goldstein 6-0, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3) to set up a final against sixth seed Stefan Koubek at the $350,000 Citrix tennis championships here.

Goldstein, who 24 hours earlier upset top seed Patrick Rafter of Australia, couldn’t maintain his momentum.

Koubek survived a one-off interruption on his way to his 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2 win over Richard Fromberg when the Plexipave hardcourt surface began peeling away, requiring two hours of repairs.