Clijsters to take on Williams in US Open Semi-final

Kim Clijsters huffed and puffed to an error-ridden quarter-final win over Australian Samantha Stosur to book a place in the semi-final of the US Open. Clijsters won the quarter-final 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 and will now play Venus Williams in the semis on Friday.

Clijsters, who has won the US Open twice before this, took the first set 6-4 after being broken once early in the set. In the second set, Stosur got a chance to serve it out at 5-4, but lost her serve. Clijsters was broken again at 5-5, before the Australian closed out the second set 7-5.

The third set began with six successive breaks of serve. Clijsters held on for the first time in the third set, only in the seventh game, before Stosur was broken for the fourth time and went down 3-5. Clijsters then served out the match to win her quarter-finals. Clijsters later said of Stosur, “She doesn’t give you a lot of rhythm and she doesn’t give you the usual kind of shots that you kind of expect.”

She will face the American Williams, who entered her first semi-final at the US Open since 2007. Williams overcame nine double faults and 33 unforced errors to beat sixth seeded Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

The men’s quarter-final draw was completed as well, as Rafael Nadal and three others joined entered the last eight stage on Tuesday night. Nadal beat compatriot Feliciano Lopez in straight sets, losing only 11 games in the process. He will now play another Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, in the quarters. Verdasco required a fifth set tie-breaker against David Ferrer to win the quarter-finals.

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka beat Sam Querrey of USA, while Mikhail Youzhny brushed Tommy Robredo aside to enter the quarter-finals.