Clijsters overpowers Wozniacki to make semi-finals

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Champion Kim Clijsters
again showed her mental toughness as she ended Caroline
Wozniacki’s Australian Open title hopes and her hold on the
world’s top ranking today.
Clijsters, who badly twisted her ankle in the fourth round
against China’s Li Na before she fought back from a set down and
saved four match points, ignored any pain she may be feeling today to beat the 21-year-old Wozniacki 6-3 7-6. She will take on third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the semi-finals.
The 28-year-old Belgian opted against getting the ankle
scanned after the Li match, preferring to rely on treatment,
painkillers and accepting the consequences of her decision.
“No, I refused,” Clijsters said when asked if she had the
ankle scanned. “I said ‘no more. Whatever it is, it is. I’m
going to try to make the best out of it and then we’ll see when
I get home how I’m feeling’.
“The ligaments are definitely a little bit hurt (but) … I
have seen more hospitals these last six months than anything, so
no more for me.”
Clijsters said she had attempted “to not do crazy things” on
her day off between her win over Li and her match with Wozniacki
and had been tentative in her movement when practicing.
The most discomfort she felt was in her stomach with all of
the painkillers she was taking, though few watching her match
with Wozniacki would have noticed any difference as she took the
world number one apart in the first set.
Clijsters also did not appear to be suffering from the heat
with temperatures approaching 34 degrees Celsius as she
scampered around court and was able to stretch when recovering
shots out wide.
To her credit, Wozniacki had looked down and out at 5-2 in
the second set but drew on all of her reserves to fight back and
take it to a tiebreak.
The comeback, however, only served to delay the inevitable
as the Belgian took the decider 7-4, sealing victory on her
first match point with a forehand volley.
“I thought Kim started off really strong,” Wozniacki said.
“She put the pressure on me from the beginning.
“I made a few unforced errors then she ran away a bit in the
first set. But I hung in there and I kept fighting and I did
what I could, but today it wasn’t enough.”