Gisela Dulko has swept into the final of the Swedish Open after a straight sets win against her doubles partner Flavia Pennetta. Fourth-seeded Dulko, of Argentina, broke Pennetta's serve three times in the second set on the way to winning 6-3, 6-1 at the clay-court tournament on Friday. Dulko will play French second seed Aravane Rezai in the final after she defeated Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3. Pennetta hadn't dropped a set in the tournament before facing Dulko, but had to rescue a break point in only the fourth game of the match. Dulko then broke the top-seeded Italian's serve with the score at 2-2 and again in the first game of the second set, before going on to complete a comprehensive victory. Dabul reaches semifinal In Rhode Island, Brian Dabul of Argentina defeated Dustin Brown of Jamaica 6-4, 6-4 at the Hall of Fame Championships to advance to his first ATP semifinals Thursday. Dabul broke serve in the third game of the opening set and held serve for the entire match. Brown, the top-ranked player from Jamaica, upset top-seeded Sam Querrey Wednesday for his first win over a top 20 opponent. Dabul will next face No. 4 seed Olivier Rochus after the Belgian beat qualifier Raven Klaasen of South Africa 6-1, 6-3. Rochus will be playing in the semifinals at the Hall of Fame for the second straight year. “I like to play on grass. It's not that easy, but I'm playing good,” he said. “Two semifinals in a row. I like it. I wish there were more tournaments on grass for me.” In the first match, Brown flipped his racket numerous times and yelled at himself and a line judge as he continually hit shots long or into the net. He even walked toward his chair as Dabul served at 40-love in the final game of the first set. Szavay in semis Defending champion Agnes Szavay cheered home fans by reaching the semifinals of the Budapest Grand Prix with a 6-3, 6-1 rout of 2008 champion Alize Cornet of France Friday. Next, she'll face second-seeded Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, who defeated Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-7 (1), 6-2, 7-6. Unseeded veteran Patty Schnyder, who lost to Szavay in last year's final, followed her win over top-seeded Alisa Kleybanova by removing No. 8 Polana Hercog of Slovenia, who has a training base in Budapest, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4. Schnyder will next play Zuzana Ondraskova of the Czech Republic, who beat fourth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain a third straight time, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4. Record crowd watches Clijsters beat Serena A world record tennis crowd at King Baudouin Stadium has watched Kim Clijsters beat Wimbledon champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 in an exhibition umpired by Martina Navratilova. The crowd of 35,681 Thursday surpassed the previous record of 30,472 set in 1973 in Houston for the Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Clijsters was originally meant to play compatriot Justine Henin, but Henin withdrew after injuring her elbow at Wimbledon. Top-ranked Serena agreed to replace Henin despite a foot injury. US Open purse to top $22.6 million this year The US Open prize money will top $22.6 million this year, an increase of $1 million over 2009, according to the US Tennis Association. Both the men's and women's singles champions will earn a record $1.7 million and the ability to earn an additional $1 million in bonus money based on their performances in the US Open Series, the USTA said. The top three men's and women's finishers of the US Open Series –tournaments during the North American summer season – are given additional money at the US Open. This year's US Open purse includes a 6.7 percent increase in men's and women's singles prize money over 2009. The two-week US Open begins Aug. 30.
