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Breakthrough for Clijsters
01/07/2003 17:48 - (SA)
London - Kim Clijsters rallied to beat Silvia Farina Elia 5-7 6-0 6-1 on Tuesday to reach her first Wimbledon semi-final. The second-seeded Belgian has now reached at least the semi-finals of all 11 events she has played this year, winning four titles.
Clijsters will face Venus Williams in Thursday's semi-finals. Williams defeated Lindsay Davenport 6-2 2-6 6-1 on Tuesday.
Clijsters is still looking for her first Grand Slam title after losing in the French Open final last month against fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Both players held to love in their opening service games, although Farina Elia was assisted by a ball that crossed the net, hit a dead spot and failed to bounce. It was followed by a net cord that fell in her favour.
Clijsters, a semi-finalist this year at the Australian Open, then faced a break point after leading 40-0, but held off that threat with a forehand winner.
At 2-2 and with Clijsters serving at 15-30, rain interrupted the match for 1 hour, 20 minutes and, when play resumed, Clijsters faced another break point when she double-faulted and was broken when she netted a forehand.
But Farina Elia, who reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in 44 attempts, was unable to hold on to her lead. With both players looking nervous and rarely going for their shots, she allowed Clijsters to level at 3-3 with a crosscourt forehand winner.
Clijsters, whose father Leo was Belgium's soccer player of the year in 1988, then earned three set points on Farina Elia's serve at 5-4. But the Italian recovered, broke to lead 6-5 when Clijsters attempted a dropshot that fell short of the net. She served out the set to love.
Instead of consolidating her advantage, Farina Elia became even more tentative in the second set, dumping a weak forehand volley into the net to go down 2-0, and double-faulting to give Clijsters a second break for 4-0.
The 19-year-old Belgian then held to love and went on to break again and take the set for the loss of just one point on her serve.
Both players became more aggressive in the final set, but it was the more powerful Clijsters who continued to hold the advantage. She broke to lead 2-0 when Farina Elia ended a long baseline rally by netting a forehand.
Farina Elia, playing her 12th consecutive Wimbledon without previously progressing beyond the third round, got back on the scoreboard in the fourth game of the set. But it was only a temporary pause for Clijsters, who broke to lead 5-1 when Farina Elia sent a forehand wide and then served out the set to love.
- SAPA
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