Warsaw, May 6 :

Kim Clijsters maintained her domination of Russia’s Elena Dementieva on Saturday with a 7-5, 6-4 semi-final victory at the Warsaw Open which hands the Belgian her second final of the year.

Clijsters struggled to claim the first set and had trouble with her timing as she dropped her serve twice to fall behind 3-0. And although she began to settle and recovered one break in the fourth game, Dementieva kept up the pressure and held off five break points in the sixth game.

Clijsters finally got back on level terms when a forehand error from Dementieva allowed her to break for 4-4. Clijsters then dropped her own serve for the third time, but Dementieva was unable to serve out for the set as the Belgian broke for 5-5. Clijsters then broke again in the 12th game as Dementieva hit double-fault on set point.

The Belgian fought off a break point in the opening game and then dealt with the frustration of failing to break at 1-0 when Dementieva struck a further four double-faults in the game. But she finally achieved the breakthrough she needed at 5-4, breaking for the match when Dementieva made a forehand error.