Courier tames Ivanisevic

LOS ANGELES, July 27: Sixth seed Jim Courier used his serve to bounce error-prone top seed Goran Ivansevic 6-3 6-4 last night in the 303,0...

LOS ANGELES, July 27: Sixth seed Jim Courier used his serve to bounce error-prone top seed Goran Ivansevic 6-3 6-4 last night in the 303,000 Infiniti Open and earn a spot in the final against second seed Thomas Enqvist.

8220;I think I turned it up a notch tonight for sure,8221; said Courier, who ran his record to 7-3 with his fifth consecutive straight-sets win over the Croatian.

8220;I just came out on top of the ball early and I don8217;t think he came out sharp. I got on top quick and never really let go. He never had a break point, never even sniffed my serve all night.8221;

Enqvist swept past Frenchman Guillaume Raoux 6-4 6-1 in the day8217;s first semi-final.

Courier sparkled from the baseline and surrendered only seven points off 10 service games to gain his second final of the year.

Ivansevic committed 34 unforced errors 22 more than Courier.

Hingis too good for Davenport

PALO ALTO: Growing fitter every day, 16-year-old Swiss World No 1 Martina Hingis withstood the crushing groundstrokes of seventh-ranked Lindsay Davenport to earn a 6-3 1-6 6-2 victory in the semi-finals of the 450,000 Bank of the West Classic yesterday.

In the final Hingis will play sixth-seed Conchita Martinez of Spain, who won a topspin war of attrition with third seed Amanda Coetzer, 6-4 6-0.

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The 5-foot 6-inch 1.68 metres, 115-pound 52 kg Hingis stood toe-to-toe with the 6-foot-3 1.91 metres, 165-pound 75 kg American, successfully trading gargantuan crosscourt backhands and bludgeoning the bigger woman8217;s second serve.

It was the fifth meeting between the two and like the previous four, the match went three sets. And like the last two occasions, Hingis stepped it up when it appeared Davenport was about to blow her off the court.

8220;In my whole career I have been pretty good in three setters,8221; said Hingis, who notched her 22nd straight three-set victory dating back to the 1996 French Open. 8220;When it gets to the third set I kind of expect that the other girl will get kind of tired or something.8221;