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Tennis roundup

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Flipkens, Clijsters give Belgium 2-0 lead over U.S. OSTEND, Belgium (AP) – U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters and late substitute Kirsten Flipkens gave Belgium a 2-0 lead over the United States in the Fed Cup semifinals Saturday.

Clijsters defeated Jamea Jackson 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in just under two hours, after Flipkens beat veteran Jill Craybas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on indoor hard courts. The world No. 2 Clijsters can give Belgium a place in September’s final if she beats Craybas in the first reverse singles match Sunday.

In the other semifinal, Francesca Schiavone and Flavia Pennetta put Italy ahead 2-0 over five-time champion Spain.

Clijsters failed to hold serve after leading 2-0 in the opening set. Unforced errors and wild play gave the 67th-ranked Jackson the early lead.

“It doesn’t matter how I played, we lead 2-0,” Clijsters said.

After dropping the first set, Clijsters regained her touch, and Jackson won three games the rest of the way.

Clijsters was the only top 50 player in the semifinal after both teams were hit by injury and withdrawals.

Justine Henin-Hardenne pulled out of the Belgian squad this week citing fatigue after losing in the Wimbledon final, while the United States was without Venus and Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport.

Flipkens, who replaced Henin-Hardenne, raced to a 4-1 lead over Craybas. The crowd at the 5,000-capacity stadium cheered every point Flipkens won, but the 32-year-old Craybas kept her cool and slowly came back.

The Belgian started piling up the unforced errors and Craybas won six of the next seven games to take the seesaw first set. Flipkens built a 4-1 lead in the second set. This time she didn’t let up, and with a stirring backhand drive she wrapped up the set.

The United States is chasing its 18th title while Belgium has won once, in 2001. The United States is 4-0 against Belgium in Fed Cup play.

Italy 2, Spain 0

At Zaragoza, Spain, Francesca Schiavone defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 7-5, while Flavia Pennetta cruised past Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-0 to give Italy a 2-0 lead over five-time champion Spain.

In reverse singles matches Sunday, Medina Garrigues will play Schiavone and Dominguez Lino will meet Pennetta.

Spain last won the Fed Cup in 1998. Italy has never won a title.

Philippoussis to face Gimelstob in Hall final

NEWPORT, R.I. – Mark Philippoussis used his big serve to advance to the final of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, beating sixth-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals Saturday.

Philippoussis, ranked No. 9 in the world in 2003 before falling out of the top 100 the past two years because of injuries, will face eighth-seeded Justin Gimelstob, a 6-1, 7-6 (4) winner over top-seeded Andy Murray. A top seed has never won the grass tournament in its 30-year history as a tour event.

“I knew what I had to do,” Philippoussis said. “I was confident in my serve the whole day. On returns, I wanted to go for it and be aggressive.”

Philippoussis, a 2003 Wimbledon finalist, won 87 percent of his first-serve points. After being broken for the first point of the tiebreaker and falling behind 6-1 before losing the set, Philippoussis responded by breaking Melzer in the third and fifth games of the second set. Philippoussis broke serve again in the first game of the third set to take control and later converted three aces in fourth game. He closed the match out with his 16th ace to reach his first final since 2003.

Gasquet, Lopez reach Swiss Open final

GSTAAD, Switzerland – Richard Gasquet and Feliciano Lopez will meet in the final of the Swiss Open.

Gasquet defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 Saturday, and Lopez held off Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Davydenko reaches Swedish Open final

BASTAD, Sweden – Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated Agustin Calleri 6-3, 6-3 Saturday to reach the Swedish Open final, where he will face second-seeded Tommy Robredo.

The Spaniard rallied from 4-2 down in the third set to beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Robredo lost three previous semifinals at the Swedish Open.

A sellout crowd of nearly 7,000, including six-time French Open champion Bjorn Borg, watched Davydenko take the first set against Calleri.

The Russian, who has a career-best ATP ranking of No. 5, broke the unseeded Argentine early in the second set.

Calleri broke back to 3-3 with a forehand down the line and appeared to be back in the match. But Davydenko broke right back, taking a 4-3 lead when Calleri netted a backhand after a long baseline rally. The Russian staved off a break point in the next game before holding his serve.

Davydenko passed Calleri with a backhand on his third match point.

His previous best in the clay-court event was a quarterfinal berth in 2002 before losing to Carlos Moya.

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