Kim Clijsters closed in on the world number one ranking when she breezed past American Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the final of the $1 million Acura Classic.
If the second-ranked Belgian wins the title against fellow countrywoman Justine Henin-Hardenne and also advances to the later stages of next week's Los Angeles Open, she will leapfrog the injured Serena Williams at the top of the rankings.
Third seed Henin-Hardenne charged into the final with a 6-1, 6-3 rout of unseeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Williams pulled out of this month's U.S. Open after undergoing knee surgery on Friday and will be out of action for six to eight weeks.
"No matter what I am, I'm going to stay who I am," Clijsters told reporters on the prospect of becoming world number one. "It won't change my personality."
Clijsters said she felt badly for her friend Serena. "You don't wish it on anyone, especially her," the Belgian said.
"What she's done for women's tennis is incredible.
"I know how bad I felt when I couldn't play because of my shoulder and she has the U.S. Open coming up and is the defending champion. It must be very hard for her."
Clijsters, who won last week's Bank of the West Classic title in nearby Stanford, was lethal against 1998 Acura champion Davenport, who grew frustrated with her inability to pass her opponent.
"It's a matter of trying to bring each ball back and surprising her that they keep coming back," Clijsters said.
"That's also what happened when I beat Serena at the WTA Championships last year. She got surprised at the balls that were coming back and tried to finish it off too quickly."
GUESSING GAME
"She moves the ball around better than anybody," Davenport said. "She kind of keeps toying with you, she had me guessing on a lot of shots."
Second seed Clijsters won the opening set after breaking to take a 4-2 lead and then broke serve again to go 2-1 up in the second.
Three times grand slam champion Davenport hit back to level at 3-3 but Clijsters broke again to lead 4-3 when the fourth-seeded American committed a series of errors.
"You could tell that Lindsay felt she had to do something more, that she had to come up with better shots," Clijsters said.
"She tried to serve and volley a little, tried to keep the rallies shorter. Those are signs that she's not as comfortable."
Clijsters has dropped only two sets in winning her last eight contests and this week has conceded 14 games in four matches.
Henin-Hardenne is looking forward to taking on her fellow Belgian in Sunday's final.
"It's always a little special when I play Kim," she said. "She'll come in as the favourite because she's playing great and will be No. 1 very soon but I have confidence and more experience now.
"Whoever is the mentally stronger will win. I expect a big battle."
Playing aggressive tennis, Henin-Hardenne flew around the court against Kuznetsova, swinging as hard as she could on her forehand, rolling one-handed backhands to all angles and sharply putting away her volleys.
Kuznetsova, 18, was so outplayed she was unable to hold serve until the fourth game of the second set.
