Clijsters and Davenport overcome the cold to set up dream clash in final
It's the mouth-watering clash that everybody has been craving: the world's number one and two players going head-to-head with the Watsons Water Champions Challenge title at stake.
Not many tournaments can boast such a line-up but the dream final was realised after top-ranked Lindsay Davenport of the United States and number two Kim Clijsters of Belgium booked their passages into today's showdown at Victoria Park.
Davenport blew hot on a cold and windswept evening to breeze past fellow Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-3, 6-1, while Clijsters put out the challenge of 2005 Watsons champion Elena Demenetieva of Russia 6-3, 6-3.
Clijsters, the US Open champion, was looking forward to the encounter that has been the buzz at Victoria Park. 'Lindsay was very sharp today and she was hitting the ball well. It will be tough. But this is great because I am still playing on the last day. I am looking forward to both the singles and doubles finals [where she partners India's Sania Mirza],' said the Belgian ace.
'I definitely felt better today than yesterday. The first two matches of the year are always tough because you have to get used to your rhythm. Everything looked a lot better but there are still a few errors I would like to eliminate in my next match. Every match I am improving and that's what I am looking for,' she said.
In a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final, the 29-year-old Davenport had little difficult overcoming the five-time grand slam champion, who was still nursing an unspecified injury.
