Clijsters Hangs on to Reach Semi-Finals

Kim Clijsters delayed writing the final chapter in her Australian Open memoirs by battling past Martina Hingis 3-6 6-4 6-3.

Kim Clijsters delayed writing the final chapter in her Australian Open memoirs by battling past Martina Hingis 3-6 6-4 6-3 to reach the semi-finals on Wednesday.

The Belgian fourth seed, playing at Melbourne Park for the last time before retiring at the end of the season, looked to be inching towards the exit before she finally dug her heels in to secure a semi-final date with world number two Maria Sharapova.

"I'm still asking myself (how I got through). The only thing I did well today was I fought and I tried," Clijsters told reporters.

"I wasn't really seeing the ball. The only thing you can do is fight and hope you can turn things around and I did."

Hingis added: "I definitely had the best chances to beat her today... it was definitely the most disappointing loss I've had against her."

Much had been expected of the quarter-final between the two friends. Both were former world number ones, both were former grand slam title champions and both were looking to break their 4-4 deadlock in head-to-head meetings.

But anyone who had not seen the duo in action before would have been forgiven if they thought they were seeing two amateurs honing their skills in a suburban tennis club.

Clijsters started the match with a double fault, peppered a few more in between and then surrendered the first set with an another. Wild backhands, mistimed dropshots, flying forehands and awkward volleys seemed to be on the agenda for Clijsters as she barely resembled a player who had been installed as the title favourite.

In her four previous matches, the popular Belgian had generated a total of 55 unforced errors. On Wednesday, another 62 flew off her racket.

With her frustration growing by the minute, even her usually calm demeanour slipped and she swiped the ground with her racket at a sunny Rod Laver Arena.

HUNG ON

As the crowd groaned with every Clijsters error, the painful spectacle proved too much for Clijsters's sister Elke and she abandoned her courtside seat.

But just when it seemed that Hingis would gatecrash her farewell party and send Clijsters on an early flight out of Australia, the 23-year-old refused to budge.

After missing three set points at 5-2 up in the second set, she made no mistake two games later and sealed it with a blazing backhand crosscourt winner.

Still firing errors to all corners of the court, Clijsters quickly slipped to 2-0 down in the decider.

Yet she hung on to break Hingis twice more in the set and after clinching the match with a crunching forehand down the line, she crouched down and held her head in hands, not quite believing she had managed to pull off the victory.

"You just have to keep fighting out there, that's the only thing you can do and luckily for me I did," said Clijsters after the two-hour contest.

"I have to be sharp against Maria, she's an incredible athlete and fights for every point. Hopefully, I will hit less than 62 unforced errors."

 

Reuters