Tennis: Davenport escapes with win

NEW YORK, New York - Defending champion Lindsay Davenport of

Newport Beach survived two match points and finally slipped past

fifth-seeded Mary Pierce, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, Wednesday today to move into the

semifinals of the U.S. Open.

Davenport will next play Friday against the winner of the Monica

Seles-Serena Williams, while Martina Hingis and Venus Williams will

battle in the other semifinal match.

Pierce broke Davenport and served for the match, leading, 5-4, in the

third set.

One point from defeat, Davenport ripped a backhand crosscourt that

just got a piece of the sideline, extending the match.

After surviving a second match point for Pierce, Davenport finally

broke through on the 12th point of the game, evening the match at 5-5.

That brought on the rain, sending the players into the dressing room

for 70 minutes.

When both players returned, Davenport held serve to lead, 6-5, before

breaking Pierce to win.