Lindsay Davenport routed the reigning Wimbledon champ, while Kim Clijsters took no prisoners as the two former champions advanced to the final of the Indian Wells WTA/ATP Masters Series event. Clijsters continued her remarkable comeback on Friday, beating fourth seed Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2 to earn her third final appearance here in five years. But she isn't taking this one for granted.
Clijsters beat American Davenport 6-4, 7-5 in the final two years ago and lost a three setter in 2001 final to Serena Williams.
The 21-year-old Belgian was sidelined for most of last year with a career-threatening wrist injury.
Clijsters' victory set up a repeat of the 2003 final with top seed Davenport who crushed Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-0 in the other semi on Friday.
In the men's draw, Australian Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the semi-finals when American ninth seed Andre Agassi pulled out just hours before their scheduled Friday match with a toe injury. Hewitt is seeking his third title in four years.
Andy Roddick avenged his 2004 Davis Cup loss to Carlos Moya, rallying to beat the Spaniard 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1 and earn the final berth in the men's semis.
Against Russia's Dementieva, Clijsters took advantage of an injury to Dementieva to win the second set and reach the final in just her second tournament back from the injury.
Clijsters knows what it is like to get hurt here. It was at Indian Wells last year where Clijsters suffered the wrist injury that led to surgery in June.
Her first comeback attempt in October was thwarted after just three matches, and she was on the sidelines until February where she reached the quarters in Antwerp.
While many are surprised Clijsters was able to return to top form so quickly the 21-year-old Belgian doesn't include herself in that group.
Davenport is now 42-9 in matches at Indian Wells. She is also on a 20-game winning streak, dating back to the first set of her quarter-final against France's Nathalie Dechy. Davenport, who is trying to become a three-time winner in the California desert, also beat Dechy 6-0 in the second set of their match.
Friday's win marked the second time Davenport has won a match in Indian Wells without dropping a game, but it is the first time she has beaten a top 10 player so easily. Last year she beat Maria Santangelo 6-0, 6-0 in the second round here.
Davenport reversed a trend which saw her lose her last two matches against Sharapova.
In 2004, Sharapova won 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in the semi-finals of Wimbledon and earlier this year she beat Davenport 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) in Tokyo.
Sharapova said this was the first 6-0, 6-0 loss of her career. Her previous most lopsided loss was also in Indian Wells where she lost 6-0, 6-2 to Monica Seles three years ago.
"I saw the white marks from the balls. There were probably 20 on the same spot."
Sharapova made 25 unforced errors to Davenport's nine had three double faults to Davenport's one.
Asked if she can remember losing love-love before, Sharapova said, "Probably when I was younger, when the girls were seven or eight years older than me."
Clijsters holds the edge over Davenport, winning eight of their 14 career matches.
"Lindsay hits the ball so deep and to the lines that it is tough to beat her," Clijsters said.
Roddick now holds a 4-1 career record against the fellow former world number one and 1999 Indian Wells runner-up Moya.
The 22-year-old Roddick gained a measure of revenge for a straight-set loss suffered against Moya in last year's Davis Cup final in Spain.
"I was down a set but I felt like I had been playing well," Roddick said. "I constructed good points and it is not like I gave the first set away. I made him work for it."
He fired 13 aces and hammered 43 winners in the one hour, 53 minute match at centre court.
COLLATED RESULTS (x denotes seeding):
MEN'S (QUARTER-FINALS):
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x2) bt Andre Agassi (USA x9) walkover; Andy Roddick (USA x3) bt Carlos Moya (ESP x7) 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1
WOMEN'S (SEMI-FINALS):
Lindsay Davenport (USA x1) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS x3) 6-0, 6-0; Kim Clijsters (BEL) bt Elena Dementieva (RUS x4) 6-4, 6-2
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