Holder Clijsters advances to final with Zvonareva

Defending champion Kim Clijsters advanced to the US Open women’s final by rallying to defeat US third seed Venus Williams 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 on Friday, running her US Open win streak to 20 matches.

Last night, Clijsters was playing the championship match against Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, the Wimbledon runner-up seeking her first Grand Slam title after ousting Danish top seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final.

The Belgian second seed has a ­5-2 career record against Zvonareva, but has dropped both meetings to the Russian since returning from a break to have a family, falling in this year’s Wimbledon and Montreal quarter-finals.

Clijsters, who did not play on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts between her 2005 and 2009 title runs due to her hiatus, matched the second-longest women’s win streak.

Only Chris Evert’s 31-match run is longer in the 33-year Open era.

Clijsters, who last year became the first mother since 1980 to win a Slam crown, is trying to become the first back-to-back US Open women’s champion since Williams in 2001 and was happy at answering the challenge Williams posed.

“I was able to raise my level. That’s what I was most pleased about, that I was able to rise to the occasion when I had to,” Clijsters said.

Williams struggled in the swirling winds of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“It was tough to play with the wind. It was so bizarre,” Williams said.

“Usually the wind isn’t this relentless. Every day the wind is different. I like to come though in these challenges but today I didn’t. I wish I could have played better on the bigger points.”

Clijsters improved to 7-6 lifetime against Williams with her fifth victory in a row against the American, a run that included a fourth-round triumph at last year’s US Open.

“I just tried to make the points and when I felt I had an opportunity to step up and accelerate I tried to take advantage,” Clijsters said.

After two double faults and four unforced errors in a tie-breaker led to Williams losing her first set of the tournament, she squandered a break point in the second game of the last set and surrendered a break in the third game.

They exchanged breaks in the eighth and ninth games, each set up by a double fault. Clijsters swatted a lob winner for a 5-4 lead, then held serve to finish off the match after two hours and 23 minutes.

Head-To-Heads
Clijsters leads Zvonareva 5-2

2002- US Open
Clijsters 1-6, 7-5, 6-4

2006 - Eastbourne
Clijsters 3-0, retired.

2006 - Wimbledon
Clijsters 7-5, 6-3

2006 - Stanford
Clijsters 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

2006 - Hasselt
Clijsters 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

2010 - Wimbledon
Zvonareva 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

2010 - Montreal
Zvonareva 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

Nadal through

Top seed Rafael Nadal reached the US Open final for the first time last night with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over Mikhail Youzhny, of Russia.

The Spaniard will play the winner of the second semi-final between five-time former winner and second seed Roger Federer and third seed Novak Djokovic for the title.