US Open - Women: Clijsters sets up Venus clash

Eurosport - Sat, 05 Sep 09:58:00 2009

Former world number one Kim Clijsters continued her stunning comeback to Grand Slam tennis as she outclassed fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-0 6-2.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium hits a return to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium during their match at the US Open in New York REUTERS - 0

The Belgian, back after two years off the tour, during which time she gave birth to her first child, needed just 62 minutes to book her place in the last 16.

The first set lasted just 27 minutes as 2005 champion Clijsters forced world number 93 Flipkens into a series of errors.

Flipkens led by a break at 2-1 in the second set but Clijsters ran through five successive games to set up a clash with third seed Venus Williams.

Venus found her range to beat plucky Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2 7-5.

The American once again stepped on to a floodlit Arthur Ashe Stadium with heavy strapping above and below her left knee but she had little trouble overpowering her 46th-ranked opponent in the opening set with her brutal ground strokes.

Rybarikova, who had taken a pain-killing injection before the match for a left-toe injury, landed on her feet in the second set as she steamed ahead 3-1 but Venus soon cut her back to size with a series of spectacular volley winners.

A forehand error ended Rybarikova's night under the spotlight, leaving a beaming Williams to look forward to her clash with Clijsters, a match between two former US Open champions.

Defending champion Serena Williams booked her place in the last 16 and settled a score in the process with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

The American, chasing her 12th Grand Slam title, eased through in 87 minutes and will next play 22nd seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who beat American Vania King 6-2 6-2.

When Serena beat Martinez Sanchez at the French Open in May, she labelled her a "cheat" over an incident when the Spaniard claimed she had hit a winner only for television replays to show the ball had bounced off her arm.

The world number 43 gave Serena a brief scare when she grabbed a 3-1 lead in the second set but the American second seed broke back and then repeated the feat in a prolonged 11th game before serving out to love for victory.

Also into the last 16 in the bottom half of the draw was in-form Italian Flavia Pennetta, who swept aside the challenge of Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-1.

Pennetta, making her sixth appearance at the US Open, has been enjoying fantastic form this season, winning titles in Palermo in July and Los Angeles last month.

She will next play Russian Vera Zvonereva, the seventh seed, who saw off compatriot and 31st seed Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-4.

Pennetta was joined in the fourth round by compatriot Francesca Schiavone, who upset eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 4-6 6-2 6-2. Schiavone will next face China's 18th seed Na Li, who beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-4 6-2.

Watch day six at the US Open LIVE from 4.45pm on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe.

Reuters

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Damn it I should have stayed in sunny Spain everybody­ is retarded in this country.But the most retarded­ verminised person is David rc_alcock who is really bad­ for my tennis_forhealth and also the stupid vermin­ Igor's tennis_forhealth, lol.

    From sanchez.santos, on Sat 5 Sep 2:36PM

  2. Yo Vermin (whats happened to your rc-alcock, David,­ tennis_forHealth, vitor_bd_. CARLA, love_my_won_bin,­ and so on), Go and suck on somebody else's blood­ PLEASE. Only the moron Igore whom you love so much will­ ever believe that you are me, can't you get it?­ Your unintelligent one liners that curses everyone in­ sight sums your life up and that's a million miles­ from mine, any intelligent person can see that. Sadly­ they wont let your type into Serbia (trust me I've­ been there), so you'd be better off just mutating­ into Igor instead, at least we can then understand what­ he is trying to say, however dull and retarded it is as­ usual.

    On the tennis, the kim v venus match will tell­ us where kim is with her tennis at the moment. Sadly­ for the non-williams fans, I expect that venus will­ triumph tomorrow (although not further down the line)­ and, of course opera, you really are expecting too much­ from your favourite daniella who, I am afraid,­ hasn't got a cat in hell's chance of ever­ competing with serena in a slam, never mind beating­ her. However maria jose will probably beat serena in­ the next non-slam event when they meet. serena did not­ ease through as was stated in the article. in my­ opinion, had maria jose held on in that marathon­ eleventh game when she got over-powered, we would have­ had a tense third set that could have gone either way,­ so it was crucial for serena to break in that game and­ she was clever enough to know that and went all out for­ it.

    From sanchez.santos, on Sat 5 Sep 2:18PM

  3. I think both Clijsters and Williams are the devil in­ carnate, lol.

    From sanchez.santos, on Sat 5 Sep 12:50PM

  4. Good luck Kim, more power to your elbow!

    From beryll, on Sat 5 Sep 12:24PM

  5. Tim-Kim will beat Venus in straight sets . The­ Williams­ sisters made their careers feasting on­ physically weak­ or average built players but they­ can't deal with­ a player with POWER and some­ talent­ !!
    ----------------------------------------------------­ ---------------------------
    Venus-Kim 6-4 in head to­ head
    and Serena-Kim 7-1!
    Venus and Serena have beaten­ Steffi Graf(Serena once,Venus twice),­ Sanchez-Vicario,Hingis,Henin,Clijsters,Davenport,Sharap­ ova, Kuznetsova,Safina,Ivanovic,Jankovic,Mouresmo and­ everybody alse worth mentioning in the last 10-12 years­ but obviously none of these players in your opinion­ have power nor talent!
    You don't have to like­ Williams sisters but saying they aren't great­ Champions and that they can't deal with talented­ players is just silly.

    From honeybeecro7, on Sat 5 Sep 11:14AM

  6. Kim will beat Venus in straight sets . The Williams­ sisters made their careers feasting on physically weak­ or average built players but they can't deal with­ a player with POWER and some talent !!

    From Tim, on Sat 5 Sep 10:55AM

  7. Good luck Kim! You are the best!

    From Csaba, on Sat 5 Sep 10:22AM

  8. Tasty match btw kim and venus, may the best slugger­ win, i love both girls

    From nechi, on Sat 5 Sep 10:11AM

  9. i didnt see the clijsters match, is the score line­ flattering or did she out class flipkens?

    From anthony, on Sat 5 Sep 7:10AM

  10. Does anybody know when Venus Williams vs Kim Clijsters­ match is?

    From Dennis Franco, on Sat 5 Sep 4:09AM

  11. Daniela has no chance with Serena,she was only lucky­ once when Serena was not in form in 2006.

    From susan, on Sat 5 Sep 12:05AM

  12. Well done Serena on your victory over Maria Sanchez. I­ loved your Black and Cerise outfit you wore during the­ evening match. You looked really fit girl, power to­ you. Good luck with your next opponent Hantuchova...

    From Ray C, on Fri 4 Sep 11:42PM

  13. Well done Serena for beating such a tricky opponent who­ volleys so well.
    Gud luck to Venus tonite.

    From Non, on Fri 4 Sep 11:08PM

  14. Serena is the best!!! She was not dominant in second­ set like I expected but OK. Every champion has some bad­ moments. I hope Rafa will be successful, too. Vamos ,­ Rafa.

    From Svetlana, on Fri 4 Sep 11:04PM

  15. EASY PEASY Serena, u go lady, we are all behind you

    From nechi, on Fri 4 Sep 10:58PM

  16. Serena is looking a different player from the one in­ Toronto, I hope Daniela puts her armour on. Strange­ result for Azarenka, she was spraying the balls left­ right and centre by the end of the match, but well­ played Schiavone! Looking forward to seeing Clijsters­ on later :-)

    From justgetsnasty, on Fri 4 Sep 10:07PM

  17. well done serena! ur next opponent will be a tricky­ one. Show them why you are the best women tennis player­ in the world.

    From Bblee, on Fri 4 Sep 10:05PM

  18. please Dani, beat her this time :P x

    From opera.aria, on Fri 4 Sep 9:43PM

  19. Power On Serena! We are behind you.

    From Okey, on Fri 4 Sep 9:38PM
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