Belgian Kim Clijsters cheers her three-set victory over American Venus Williams at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Kim Clijsters will get an opportunity to defend her U.S. Open crown.

In a thrilling contest, the Belgian star and No. 2 seed upended third seed American Venus Williams 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 Friday in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

"I felt that I was hitting well with the wind. I felt that I was making her move around, and that's what I was really tying to focus on," said Clijsters. "I was able to kind of rise to the occasion when I had to."

Clijsters, who is riding a 20-match win streak at the U.S. Open, will face No. 7 Vera Zvonareva in Saturday night's women's final. The Russian upset top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Demark 6-4, 6-3 earlier Friday.

After Clijsters and Williams split the first two sets, the women played giveaway in the third with their respective serves. Having broken Williams and serving at 4-3, Clijsters had a chance to take a stranglehold on the match.

Instead, the defending champion double faulted at 30-30 before dropping the game altogether.

Facing the same scenario, Williams also double faulted at the same score, giving her opponent a break point. Clijsters didn't waste her opportunity, lobbing a perfectly timed shot over the third seed to take a 5-4 advantage.

Backhand winner

Serving for the match, Clijsters ripped a backhand winner by the helpless Williams, drawing a fist pump by the Belgian.

"I just wish I could have played the bigger points a little better," said Williams.

Should Clijsters win Saturday's championship, she will become the first woman to win consecutive U.S. Open titles since Williams did it in 2000-01.

"Obviously, this is what you try to achieve," Clijsters said. "I never expected I'd come back in this position. I was trying to do it. It wasn't easy, but I stuck with it."

Clijsters, who won the U.S. Open in 2005, is 5-2 lifetime against Zvonareva.

However, the Russian has defeated Clijsters twice this season, including a three-set victory in the quarter-finals at the Rogers Cup in Montreal in August.

The conditions seemed in place for Wozniacki to grab her first Grand Slam title, but they forgot to tell Zvonareva.

The No. 7 seed from Russia kept the top seed off balance all match en route to the upset.

Wozniacki had become the No. 1 player in the world after a string of tour wins this year, and entered the final Slam of the year without the prospect of having to face former U.S. Open champions Serena Williams and Justine Henin, who are both out with injuries.

Momentum lost

She lost just 17 games in her first five matches in the quest for her first major title after losing in the Flushing final last year to Clijsters but couldn't keep that momentum up against her aggressive opponent.

Conditions were not as windy as on Wednesday, but the five service breaks — all but one committed by Wozniacki — occurred on the same side of the court.

"It was very difficult for both of us with this wind today," Zvonareva said immediately after the match. "I think I was patient and aggressive like I was in previous matches."

Zvonareva broke Wozniacki in the third game of the first set. The Dane had a break point in the following game to erase the advantage, but couldn't convert.

Zvonareva kept Wozniacki pinned often, moving her along the baseline with groundstrokes.

Wozniacki found herself down 15-40 in the opening game of the second set but recovered. She wasn't so lucky in the third game, putting the Russian in the driver's seat again.

Defensive shot

Zvonareva was playing virtually error free until the fourth game. She fired an overhead right at Wozniacki, and the defensive shot that came back at her was volleyed into the net.

Wozniacki was back on even terms, but she promptly lost the next game.

Zvonareva fired an ace to make it 5-3 and then burst in to counter a Wozniacki drop attempt to make it 15-30.

The 20-year-old then sprayed a shot wide to set up two match points, hitting into the net on the next point.

Zvonareva has not dropped a set through six matches at the Open.

Wozniacki had beaten Zvonareva on Aug. 23 in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal, but it was a pedestrian match owing to rain delays that necessitated each playing their semifinal match earlier the same day.

The result adds to a career best year for Zvonareva, who turned 26 earlier this week. She will have a chance for her first Grand Slam title, after finishing as Wimbledon runner-up in early July.

Brothers Mike and Bob Bryan of the U.S. won their ninth career Grand Slam doubles title together early in the day Friday, defeating Rohan Bopanna of India and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4). It was the third U.S. Open win for the siblings.

With files from The Associated Press