Davenport Earns No. 1 Tennis Ranking <br /> <br />By ROY KAMMERER, Associated Press Writer <br />MUNICH, Germany (AP) - Lindsay Davenport won the No. 1 ranking for the year by rallying past Kim Clijsters in three sets Saturday and advancing to the final of the Sanex Championships.
Davenport defeated the Belgian 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the $3 million year-end event to overtake Jennifer Capriati for the top spot in women's tennis.
In Sunday's title match, Davenport will face Serena Williams, a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Sandrine Testud in the other semifinal.
Davenport, seeded second, has won three straight titles and extended her winning streak to 15 matches. She will be trying to win eight titles for the second straight year.
Davenport is 0-5 this year against the Williams sisters.
"I always seem to play them when they're in a zone," Davenport said.
Davenport also finished No. 1 for 1998 and joined four other players who have twice been No. 1 for the year.
She has said Venus Williams or Capriati deserves the top ranking because they split the Grand Slams.
"I really think Venus would be the No. 1 if she played more," Davenport said. "It's not my fault if Venus doesn't play more and Jennifer didn't win enough regular events. But I had a very consistent year."
Capriati won the Australian Open and French Open this year in a remarkable comeback from an array of problems. Davenport did not win a Grand Slam event in 2001.
"I'd rather have two Grand Slams," she said. "The first time was amazing, a real honor, but I've been No. 1 several times now."
Davenport has been No. 1 five times, starting on Oct. 12, 1998, when she became the first American to lead the rankings since Chris Evert in 1985. She has finished No. 1 or No. 2 the past four years.
Clijsters, a French Open finalist who has risen to a No. 5 ranking, beat Davenport earlier this year at Stanford, Calif.
The 18-year-old Belgian was in command at the outset Saturday, surging through the first set in 24 minutes as Davenport had trouble keeping the ball in play.
Davenport took control in the second set. In the third, Davenport broke serve but the third-seeded Clijsters promptly broke back. Clijsters fought off five break points at 5-4 before Davenport prevailed in a tiebreaker.
"I'm not surprised it was a hard match," Davenport said. "I thought she would be the toughest player I would face here."
Clijsters started the year at No. 18 and won three titles this. She pushed Capriati to a 12-10 final set at the French Open.
"She's had a phenomenal breakthrough year," Davenport said. "It takes some time to win the big matches and she's almost there."
Capriati's chance to finish the year at No. 1 faded Friday with a three-set loss to Testud. She claimed the top ranking from Martina Hingis three weeks ago.
Capriati was fighting a throat infection during her quarterfinal loss.
"Maybe once I did get to the No. 1, I sort of relaxed a little bit," she said. "My intensity is just not like it was at the start of the year."
She said she was taking medication and was in bed all day before her match.
"I was delirious," she said. "In the first set I didn't even know what the score is. ... It's just bad luck. I feel like I couldn't give 100 percent. <br /> <br />-----------------------------------------------------
CONGRATS LINDSAY!!!!! <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
