Williams sets up Davenport final with easy win

Defending champion Venus Williams eased past Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-3 to set up a final against Lindsay Davenport at the New Haven Open on Friday

Second seeded Davenport had earlier despatched a weary Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-2 6-2 in their semi-final match.

Top seed Williams was always in control against Hantuchova, who struggled with the American's powerful serve and committed far too many errors.

Williams started badly by hitting double-faults on the first and last points of the opening game, but quickly settled and broke back immediately.

She broke again for 5-3 when Hantuchova double-faulted and was able to serve out the opening set.

In the second set, Williams dropped just three points on her serve and broke the seventh seed at 5-3 to win the match with a crisp double-handed backhand volley.

Williams is thrilled to see Davenport doing so well since she returned from injury, and was looking forward to renewing their rivalry after they had split their career meetings so far at 10 wins apiece.

"At one time I was down 1-8 against her, and if I lost another match I was going to retire. I couldn't handle that any more," Williams said.

"I guess the turning point was at Wimbledon (in 2000). I was still down 9-3, but it didn't matter to me if it was 9-3 or 100-0. It was the Wimbledon final and I didn't care what the odds were against me."

Hantuchova believed that Williams had improved significantly since she took a set from the American at the Australian Open in January.

"She played really well, and especially her serve was unbelievable. There was not much I could have done about that," Hantuchova said.

"But I gave my best and got a lot of experience from the match."

In the four tournaments Davenport has played since making her comeback following nine months of inactivity due to a knee injury, she has reached two semi-finals and two finals.

She was beaten two weeks ago in the Manhattan Beach title match by Chanda Rubin, and also reached the semi-finals in Stanford and San Diego.

TIRED RUSSIAN

Myskina, who upset fourth seed Justine Henin and fifth seed Martina Hingis in her two previous matches, struggled to rise to the occasion against Davenport.

The tired Russian looked slow and was unable to hit the ball with the conviction she had shown earlier in the week.

Myskina made an unforced forehand error to give Davenport a break to lead 3-2 and another poor forehand gave the American a second break for 5-2.

In the second set, the pair exchanged breaks in the first two games, before Davenport swept the last five for the loss of just six points.

"It was really hard for me because when I went to the court I felt I'd been there the whole night," Myskina said.

"I didn't sleep well because we finished late, and I couldn't move well. I made a lot of unforced errors, and she hit harder than Martina (Hingis) for sure.

"With Martina it's more mental, and with Lindsay it's boom-boom, so it was harder for me today for sure. You have to be 100 percent to beat her, and I wasn't.

Davenport admitted it had been a comfortable match for her, and appreciated that it was difficult for Myskina to come back after a big win the night before.

"I didn't feel I was ever threatened today. I felt I was in control of the match and in control of a lot of the points," Davenport said.

"She played really great matches all week and I do believe that you sometimes run out of gas, especially after a really tough match like she had last night."