Davenport to play Hantuchova in Bali final

BALI, Sep 15 (Reuters) Lindsay Davenport will play second-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova in the Bali Classic final tomorrow, continuing her remarkable return from a year off after giving birth to son Jagger.

The 31-year-old Davenport overwhelmed Italy's Sara Errani 6-1 6-3 today while Hantuchova put out Romanian qualifier Sorana Cirstea 7-5 6-1.

The American was far too strong for Errani, utilising her big forehand and strong returns to force her opponent into errors.

Davenport suffered a temporary setback by double-faulting twice on the way to dropping her serve in the opening game of the second set.

But she reeled off the last five games of the match to achieve a comfortable victory.

Hantuchova struggled to gain an advantage over Cirstea, who rallied well and was the more consistent player during much of the first set.

Although she had plenty of chances, the Slovak was wasteful and succumbed to the occasional spectacular mistake.

Hantuchova needed five break points to lead 3-2 and then dropped her serve with a series of wild errors.

At 5-5 she needed another four break points before Cirstea made a forehand error to leave Hantuchova serving for the set.

Cirstea's resistance began to crumble after her opponent converted a fifth break point to lead 1-0 in the second set.

The Romanian broke as Hantuchova served for the match before then dropping her own serve to love.

REUTERS PDS HS1759