NEW YORK — After trailing for much of the third set, Venus Williams suddenly was right back in the thick of her U.S. Open semifinal against Kim Clijsters, serving at 4-all, 30-all.
At that moment Friday night, it didn’t appear to matter that the 30-year-old Williams was bidding to become the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title in two decades. Or that she arrived at Flushing Meadows coming off a left knee injury that meant she hadn’t played a match in more than two months.
Then came two pivotal points. First, Williams double-faulted for the seventh time, giving Clijsters a break point. Next, Clijsters curled a perfect backhand lob over the 6-foot-1 Williams to go ahead 5-4.
Williams stopped chasing and watched the ball fall, then hung her head. And that, basically, was that. Defending champion Clijsters held on, winning 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 to extend her U.S. Open winning streak to 20 matches and return to the final.
“I just wish,” Williams said, “I could have played the bigger points a little better.”
She is 52-2 after taking the first set at the U.S. Open — and both of those losses came against Clijsters, who will face No. 7-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia in tonight’s final. If Clijsters wins the championship, she will be the first woman with two consecutive U.S. Open titles since Williams in 2000-01.
“Obviously, this is what you try to achieve,” said the second-seeded Clijsters, also the 2005 U.S. Open champion. “I never expected I’d come back in this position. I was trying to do it. It wasn’t easy, but I stuck with it.”
Earlier Friday, Zvonareva reached her second Grand Slam final in a row by upsetting top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-3. A year ago in New York, Clijsters — playing in only the third tournament of her return after more than two seasons away from the tour — beat Wozniacki in the final.
Summed up Williams, who was hoping to get to her first U.S. Open final since 2002: “I wasn’t able to play as well as I wanted. I had too many errors.”
Afterward, Williams, who fell to 12-13 against Clijsters, brushed aside a question about her future in a sport she and her sister have dominated for stretches, saying: “I definitely feel like I’ll be back next year. This is what I do. I feel like I played great tennis, even with minimal preparation.”
U.S. Open/glance
Weather: Mostly cloudy and cool. High of 71. Attendance: 23,508.
Men’s results: No matches Friday. No. 1 Rafael Nadal will face No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny while No. 2 Roger Federer will meet No. 3 Novak Djokovic in today’s semifinals.
Women’s results: Semifinals: No. 2 Kim Clijsters beat No. 3 Venus Williams 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 and will play No. 7 Vera Zvonareva for the women’s singles title tonight. Zvonareva beat No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 to advance to her second consecutive Grand Slam final. Zvonareva lost the Wimbledon women’s final to Serena Williams in July.
Stat of the day: Clijsters holds a 5-2 career advantage over Zvonareva with all the wins from 2006 or earlier. Zvonareva has won their two last meetings, both this year.
Quote of the day: “It’s the right balance between being patient and being aggressive. With those windy conditions you have to play sometimes ugly.” — Zvonareva
Today on TV: KCNC-4, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (live, men’s semifinals), 6-8 p.m. (live, women’s final); Tennis Channel, 9-10 p.m. (highlights).
