Tennis

Clijsters beats Stosur to set up semi-final with Venus

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-08 11:39

NEW YORK - Defending champion Kim Clijsters held off a gritty challenge from fifth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur, surviving a three-set battle on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium celebrates match point over Samantha Stosur of Australia during the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 7, 2010.  [Photo/Agencies]

With both players struggling to hold serve in windy conditions on Arthur Ashe centre court, the second-seeded Belgian steadied herself at the end to complete a 6-4 5-7 6-3 win that set up a showdown against American Venus Williams.

Clijsters stopped a string of six successive service breaks at the start of the final set to seize a 4-3 lead before breaking Stosur again and then holding serve to end it.

The victory was the 19th in a row for Clijsters at Flushing Meadows, including her championship run in 2005. Injury and then a temporary retirement to begin a family kept her away from the tournament until her triumphant return last year.

Williams, like Clijsters a two-time U.S. Open winner, was a straight-sets winner over French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the day's other women's quarter-final.  (Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)