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January 27, 2011

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Clijsters charges into the semifinals

KIM Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva found themselves in familiar territory late in a Grand Slam tournament yesterday in Melbourne, Australia.

Clijsters, the growing favorite in the women's draw, advanced to a semifinal against No. 2 Zvonareva, whom she beat in the final at the US Open last September. It will be the 10th tour meeting for the pair, with Clijsters holding a 6-3 advantage.

Clijsters had some nervous moments in her 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki plays Li Na of China in the other women's semifinal today.

Clijsters is the only Grand Slam winner into the women's semis, although she's still seeking her first major title outside of America.

"I hope the experience can help me a little bit," Clijsters said. "But there are some tough players out there, we have Nos. 1, 2, 3 still in and Li Na has been playing really well. So it is going to be tough."

Zvonareva has lost the last two Grand Slam finals, to Clijsters in New York and Serena Williams at Wimbledon.

The Belgian was up a set and a break before Radwanska rallied, winning three straight games to lead 5-4 with a chance to serve for the second set.

Zvonareva wore a black ribbon on her hat in honor of the 35 victims of the suicide bombing at a Moscow airport this week.

An aggressive Zvonareva clipped through the first set in 29 minutes and was 3-0 up in the second when Kvitova got onto the front foot, slugging her way back into the contest at 3-3.

Zvonareva, however, is determined to prove she can win a grand slam this year and ultimately went through a comfortable winner when Kvitova overcooked a forehand after 75 minutes.

"There will be moments where you lose your focus and you will have one or two unforced errors," said Zvonareva, a tearful losing finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open last year.

"But I'm really happy the way I handled the situation after, and I was able to come up with some good shots when I needed it and finish in two sets."

 

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