Venus Williams avenged her loss to Marion Bartoli in the 2009 Stanford final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Frenchwoman in Miami on Thursday. She’ll next face Kim Clijsters in the final.
Venus, a three-time Key Biscayne champion in Miami, last appeared in the final in 2001 when she beat Jennifer Capriati. Williams is 6-5 against Clijsters, but has lost the last three times they’ve played, including at the 2009 U.S. Open.
“I'm really happy to be back in this final and obviously I want to take it a step further,” said Venus, who extended her 2010 winning streak to 15 matches.—M.C.