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Clijsters in final after car-crash scare

Three-time U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters won the season-ending WTA Championships in 2002 and 2003.
Three-time U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters won the season-ending WTA Championships in 2002 and 2003.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Kim Clijsters seeking to win season-ending women's event for the third time
  • Belgian will play world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday's final in Qatar
  • U.S. Open champion beats Samantha Stosur while Wozniacki defeats Vera Zvonareva
  • Mikhail Youzhny saves three match-points to reach final in St. Petersburg

(CNN) -- Kim Clijsters survived a car crash to book her place in the final of the WTA Championships in Doha, where she will face world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday.

The Belgian, seeking to win the $4.55 million season-ending tournament for the third time, revealed that she had escaped unharmed after being involved in an accident ahead of her semifinal victory over Samantha Stosur on Saturday.

"We just had a car accident on our way to the courts! So scary... Bob, my manager took the hit," the Belgian wrote on social networking site Twitter, attaching an image of the damaged vehicle.

"We are all ok... Just the car is ready for the junk yard :-)"

I had the set-point and she hit a ball right on the line. You have to say 'Too good' on shots like that
--Samantha Stosur
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The 27-year-old lost the first three games and saved a set-point at 5-4 down before defeating the in-form Stosur 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 for her fifth consecutive win against the big-serving Australian, winning the second set in just 25 minutes.

"Sam and I have played some tough matches in the past, but today I was able to play well on the important points. That's what helped me win the first set," Clijsters told the WTA Tour website. "In the second set I think her level dropped a little bit."

Dementieva retires after Doha defeat

Stosur, who beat Wozniacki in the group stages and was runner-up at the French Open, admitted that she had not been able to keep up her performance.

"That's what happens when you play against the best in the world. You have to play absolutely at the peak. If you drop off just that little bit, you get punished for it," Stosur said.

"I had the set-point and she hit a ball right on the line. You have to say 'Too good' on shots like that. She deserved to win it in the end."

Wozniacki, beaten by Clijsters in the final of last year's U.S. Open, crushed second seed Vera Zvonareva 7-5 6-0 in the second semi in Qatar.

Wozniacki clinches year-end No. 1 spot

The 20-year-old Dane blew a 4-1 lead as she conceded five games in a row to the Russian, who had two set-points on her own serve.

But Wozniacki fought back and won nine games in a row to give herself a chance of avenging last year's defeat in New York to world No. 4 Clijsters -- their only previous encounter.

"First I want to thank the crowd for supporting me so much today and all week. Without you guys I wouldn't be here," she said.

On the men's ATP Tour, Mikhail Youzhny boosted his chances of reaching the season-ending event in London by reaching the final of his home St. Petersburg Open.

The top seed saved four match-points in beating fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-5 4-6 7-6 (10-8) in just over three hours on Saturday.

Ranked 10th in the ATP standings, the 2004 champion will next play Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin, who reached his first final with a 6-3 6-4 win over Ukraine's Illya Marchenko.

In Montpellier, French fourth seed Gael Monfils will take on Croatian No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic in the final of the Open Sud de France on Sunday.

Monfils, who last title came on home soil in Metz last year, upset second-seeded compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 on Saturday while Ljubicic defeated Spanish No. 6 Albert Montanes 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

In Austria, defending champion Jurgen Melzer will play compatriot Andreas Haider-Maurer in Sunday's final of the Vienna Tennis Trophy event.

Melzer beat Spanish third seed Nicolas Almagro to win 6-4 6-4 on Saturday while his fellow Austrian, ranked 157th, continued his fairytale run with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 win over Germany's Michael Berrer reach his first title match.