Kim Clijsters ousts Agniezska Radwanska to reach Australian Opem semis
US Open champion, Kim Clijsters, defeated World Number 14, Agniezska Radwanska, yesterday to set up a repeat of the US Open title match with runner-up Russian pro, Vera Zvonareva.
The Comeback Queen threw Radwanska out of the running for the Cup in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(4).
The match was made even more eventful by the fact that it took place on a national holiday, Australia Day. While the two players competed for a semi-final spot, air force planes flew in formation over the courts and cannons went off.
The celebrations began earlier during the day, when Zvonareva defeated Petra Kvitova in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 at the Rod Laver Arena.
Now, Kim Clijsters will be facing Vera Zvonareva once again, after defeating her in September 2010 to win her third Major title.
Clijsters is the only woman with a Grand Slam title in the women’s semi-finals, and an Australian Open title will be her first Grand Slam win outside the USA.
World Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Chinese tennis pro, Li Na, are currently competing in the other semi-final.
Meanwhile, Clijsters seems to be approaching her victory with a level head, saying, “I hope the experience [of defeating Radwanska] can help me a little bit. But there are some tough players out there, we have Numbers 1, 2, 3 still in and Li Na has been
playing really well. So it is going to be really tough”.
Another intense element of the semi-final match is unpredictability. While Zvonareva was able to defeat Clijsters at Wimbledon in 2010, she fell to the Belgian pro months later at the title match in Flushing Meadows.
Zvonareva has lost two consecutive Grand Slam finals, falling to pro Serena Williams at Wimbledon and Clijsters at the US Open.
The Clijsters-Radwanska match was not a very difficult win for the former World Number 1, and she had already stacked a set and a break for herself before Radwanska jumped into action.
The Polish player then won three straight games, and took the lead 5-4.
However, Clijsters quickly converted her fourth break-point to tie the score at 5 all. The set then went into a tie-breaker, which Clijsters took away easily.
The 27 year old pro has always been a particular favourite at Australia, and is still known as “Aussie Kim” at Melbourne. She was also engaged to former World Number 1 Australian Lleyton Hewitt for a short time, and overjoyed her Australian fans once again
by wishing the stadiums a Happy Australia Day.
This is the fifth time that Clijsters has reached the semi-finals in Australia, and her best record was achieved in 2004 when she lost the final to compatriot Justine Henin.
Meanwhile, Zvonareva on the other hand was less than delighted with the Australia Day celebrations. Both she and Kvitova were surprised by when the cannons went off, and Zvonareva even requested that the match be stopped for some minutes while a woman received
medical attention in the stands. However, she was denied by umpire Mariana Alves.
Later, when asked about the distractions, Zvonareva said, “I didn’t know they were going to start this noise during our match, it was a difficult moment. You’re here to play tennis … I was trying to keep my concentration”.
The winner of the Zvonareva-Clijsters clash will be competing with either Caroline Wozniacki or Na Li for the Australian Open title. This is also Wozniacki’s first Grand Slam as a World Number 1, and the competition promises to be intense.
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