Vaidisova, Kuznetsova, Clijsters book into semis

By Bill Scott Jun 6, 2006, 15:48 GMT

Kim Clijsters of Belgium returns to Martina Hingis of Switzerland during their quarter final match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, Tuesday 06 June 2006. Clijsters won in straight sets. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN

Paris - On-fire Czech Nicole Vaidisova defeated a second reigning Grand Slam champion in as many matches while Kim Clijsters tamed Martina Hingis in quarter-final wins at the French Open on Tuesday.

Vaidisova, tipped as a future champion, proved the expectations valid when she rallied for a 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3 comeback victory over Venus Williams.

The 17-year-old followed up in style after knocking out top seed Amelie Mauresmo 48 hours earlier. Williams is the 2005 Wimbledon champion, Mauresmo won the Australian Open in January.

'It's great, twice in a row, with some great play. I struggled a bit today and still pulled it off, it's great.

'This definitely boosts my confidence a lot.'

Vaidisova, the 16th seed with six WTA titles already in her possession will now face a third Grand Slam winner when she plays the 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last four.

Kuznetsova won an all-Russian battle over Dinara Safina 7-6 (7-5), 6-0. 'Right now I'm not even thinking about the match yet,' said the excited teenager. 'I'm still in my little La La Land.'

Clijsters was dominant over Hingis 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 after beating the comeback-bound Swiss at the quarter-final stage five months ago at the Australian Open.

Hingis led 4-2 in their head to head, but 22 unforced errors and just 15 winners from the five-time Grand Slam champion didn't help her cause.

Complained Hingis: 'I was a little flat, I was a little tired. I was just a little late. I didn't have the energy going I had in the first three matches.'

Clijsters committed more mistakes, 34, but sorted them out thanks to 31 winners and five breaks of the Hingis serve. She now runs into compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne, who stopped German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5, 6-2.

'Against Martina, you have to be ready from the start,' said Clijsters. 'If you have one or two bad games against Martina, it's very tough.'

Hingis said she was hoping for more.

'I'm very pleased to have made the quarter-finals again in a Grand Slam, but you always want more. I had a rough (weather-delay) schedule the last three, four days. I didn't have enough time to recuperate. That's something I just have to get used to.'

Victory boosts Clijsters in her bid for the number 1 ranking. WTA calculations suggest that she can return to the top past Mauresmo by reaching the final.

'I knew I had to lift my game,' said the winner, current US Open champion. 'I stepped it up.

'It was necessary since the first set was very close. It was a lot of fun to be out there today. There were a lot of Belgian flags and fans, that made it special.

'I was hungry to win and motivated.'

Kuznetsova, seeded eighth, made a quick change after trailing Safina, the 14th-seeded sister of Marat Safin, coming from 5-1 down in the first set.

'I got to 5-5 and said: 'OK, here we start the match. That's when I really started to feel myself a little bit in the game.'

After saving a set point and taking the opening set in the tiebreak, there was no stopping Kuznetsova, who blitzed through to victory in just under 90 minutes.

Vaidisova held a 4-1 lead in the first set, but let it go against Williams.

As the set went into a tiebreaker, she also led by the same margin, only to see the experienced American close the gap, claiming the set in 54 minutes on a Vaidisova error.

The tension mounted in the second set, but the teenager's nerves didn't fray, with Vaidisova passing one of the biggest tests of her career as Williams drove a forehand wide on second match point after two hours, eight minutes.

On the men's side, world number 1 Roger Federer was due to play 12 seed Mario Ancic.