Grand Slam quartet whip the wind to reach semis (Roundup)

By Bill Scott Jun 22, 2006, 16:47 GMT

Eastbourne, England - Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne face off while Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina meet in a pair of high-profile semi-finals at the Eastbourne Championships Friday.

Defending champion Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne both drove home easy victories Thursday in whipping wind.

Clijsters, seeded second, was more troubled by stiff breezes than by opponent Francesca Schiavone, beating the Italian for the 11th time without defeat in a 6-2, 6-1 quarter-final victory lasting 44 minutes.

Henin-Hardenne, who defeated Clijsters this month in a French Open semi-final, will have a chance for another test against her fellow Belgian after ousting Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-4.

Fourth-seeded Kuznetsova saved three match points and then advanced in a tiebreaker in a gruelling 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) result over German number 7 Anna-Lena Groenefeld in two hours, 32 minutes.

Nathalie Dechy, who put out top seed Amelie Mauresmo, on Wednesday, was unable to keep up her form as she fell 6-4, 6-4 to fifth seed Myskina.

All four semi-finalist are Grand Slam winners, with Henin-Hardenne lifting a third French Open crown this month, beating Clijsters in the semi-finals along the way.

Clijsters won the 2005 US Open, while Kuznetsova and Myskina lifted the New York and Paris titles respectively two years ago.

'It's great to be in another quarter-final,' said Henin-Hardenne, playing the Wimbledon warm-up tournament for the first time, 'Elena's a great fighter and conditions were difficult for both of us out there.'

Clijsters owns a 10-8 record over Henin-Hardenne, with eight of their last nine meetings coming in finals. 'She's a tough player and her serve has really improved,' said Clijsters.

'She moves well on grass and has a slice that keeps the ball low. I'll have to play aggressive tennis and keep my errors down.'

Henin-Hardenne is looking for match practice - and not any kind of revenge - when she plays Friday.

'This match is just preparation for Wimbledon, no matter whom I play,' said the Belgian 'I'm happy to get a third match on grass this week. I always walk onto the court to win.'

Kuznetsova flirted with defeat as Groenefeld missed on three match points in the third set, one with a double-fault.

But the Russian was baffled by the wind, the worst she had ever played in. 'I could have folded in the second set, It's bizarre to play tennis in this wind.'

'It was tough to do anything,' said the 2004 Eastbourne winner. 'But I refused to give up.

'I told myself that I would not make the mistakes. Today it was impossible sometimes to play. I was pretty lucky in the end, I just hung in as much as I could.

Clijsters had a struggle as well over Schiavone.

'You aren't playing an opponent, you're playing that ball which is constantly changing in the wind,' said Clijsters. 'You just have to do the best you can out there.

'It's not easy and you won't play your best tennis, the wind is changing the ball the whole time.'