Clijsters storms into final

Top seed Kim Clijsters [Images] breezed into the Luxembourg Open final with a 6-3, 6-1 demolition of French fourth seed Nathalie Dechy in Luxembourg, on Saturday.

The Belgian now faces Germany's [Images] Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who reached a second successive final by outslugging Russia's [Images] Dinara Safina 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in a battle of the big hitters.

Clijsters was always in control against an opponent who seemed shell-shocked after losing her opening service game. Dechy's misery was complete when she double-faulted on match point.

"I don't think either of us played our best tennis today," said US Open champion Clijsters.

"I was always trying to keep pressure on her but felt a little tight and I was making a few mistakes.

"My footwork and movement was not as it should be and I made a few unforced errors but that's tennis."

Clijsters said she needs to be at her best against the in-form Groenefeld, who ran her close in the first set when they met this year at Stanford when the Belgian won 6-4, 6-0.

"I know after the match in Stanford that I have to be ready," added Clijsters. "But maybe she will be tired because she has done a lot of travelling in the last couple of weeks having been to Beijing [Images]."

Groenefeld was beaten in the Beijing final last weekend by Russian teenager Maria Kirilenko but she is looking forward to playing Clijsters.

"I'm very excited now because it's my second final and it's against Kim so it's going to be an amazing match and a great experience for me.

"Kim is a great player and I'm going to have to play aggressively against her because she always gets the ball back and makes you play one more shot.

Groenefeld showed great grit and determination to beat Safina after falling a break behind in the final set.

But the German won four games in a row from 2-4 to seal a remarkable comeback against the seventh seed.

The unseeded 20-year-old has jumped from 75 in the world at the beginning of the year to 23 at the start of the tournament and earned her first victory over a top 10 player when she beat Russia's Nadia Petrova in the quarter-finals.

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