Davenport serves big danger notice

Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters, two players tipped as the big dangers to the Williams sisters in next week's Australian Open, yesterday served notice of their form by reaching the Sydney International final.

The Californian beat Tatiana Panova 6-3, 7-5 to reach her eighth Sydney final in a match interrupted for more than an hour by a thunderstorm. Clijsters overcame her fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-2, 6-3 in a contest much closer then the score suggests.

Davenport raced through the first set and was level at 4-4 in the second when the skies opened. The Russian held service after the restart to lead 5-4 but the American won the next three to seal victory.

Clijsters conceded her semi-final could have gone either way but believed she was playing much better than a year ago, when she reached the Australian Open semi-finals. Henin-Hardenne said: "It was high intensity. But Kim played more consistently on the important points."

The men's final has a surprising match-up with Juan Carlos Ferrero, world No4, taking on the South Korean qualifier Lee Hyung-taik, who beat Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 6-3.

"Did I expect this? Of course not," Lee said last night. "I just wanted to win one match in the event." He had to play three qualifiers just to get into it.

In Melbourne, the home favourite Mark Philippoussis lost his Kooyong Classic semi-final 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 to France's Sébastien Grosjean, who meets Andre Agassi in the final.

Pat Rafter's retirement drew a generous tribute from Lleyton Hewitt, who said the 30-year-old Australian, more than anyone, had inspired him to become a professional. "He's had an incredible career. I think deep down, he knows his life has moved on," Hewitt added of the two-time US Open champion and former world No1.