Clijsters hobbles into semifinals
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Kim Clijsters reaches for her injured left foot during her match.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) -- A hobbling Kim Clijsters broke the pain barrier to earn a semifinal spot at the Australian Open, beating Russian Anastasia Myskina 6-2 7-6.
The number two seed took a medical time-out in the second set for treatment on her troublesome left ankle.
She then fought off five set points and needed six match points to get past Myskina in a gritty quarterfinal victory.
"I started off feeling really good but had a little stumble and hurt my foot again," said Clijsters, who is still chasing her first grand slam title.
"I'll have to see how it reacts tomorrow," she said. "I will try to ice it as much as I can today and maybe take some painkillers and anti-flammatories tomorrow to try and keep the swelling down."
Clijsters said she would be willing to risk her ankle if she felt able to play. "I have a week off after this so I might as well go for it and give myself a shot," she said.
"But on the other hand if I can't walk tomorrow it's stupid to go out there. I'm going to get it taped, see how it's feeling and test it," said Clijsters, the 20-year-old world number two.
Clijsters has been in superb form in Melbourne and the 20-year-old Belgian stormed through the first set, racing to a 5-0 lead before clinching it on her third set point with a ferocious backhand pass.
Myskina hit back with a vengeance in the second and secured a double service break for 3-0 with a delightful angled volley.
Moments later it was 4-0 with Myskina threatening to run away with the set.
Clijsters then slipped awkwardly while holding serve in the fifth game and had treatment on her ankle, which she injured during the Hopman Cup earlier this month.
After having her foot re-strapped, she returned to the court and immediately broke Myskina, who then self-destructed when she held three set points at 5-3 on Clijsters's serve.
Cheered on by Australian fiance Lleyton Hewitt, Clijsters won three straights games, only to squander two match points at 6-5.
An over-rule in the second-set tiebreak presented Clijsters with two more match points, much to the annoyance of the volatile Myskina, who banged the umpire's chair with her racket in frustration.
But a tentative Clijsters wasted both, as well as a fifth match point, before forcing Myskina into a wild forehand to clinch the tiebreak 11-9 and wrap up a nerve-shredding match after 90 minutes.
Clijsters will play 22nd seed Patty Schnyder, who beat American doubles specialist Lisa Raymond 7-6 6-3.
Raymond, 30, in a quarterfinal for only the second time in 45 Grand Slam tournaments, could not overcome her four-straight losing streak against Schnyder.
She broke Schnyder in the 11th game and was serving for the first set when she lost her own serve to love and then won only two points in the tiebreaker.
Schnyder broke Raymond twice in the second set and was serving for the match at 5-2 before dropping serve.
She rallied to break Raymond in the next game to finish the match in 79 minutes.
Raymond, who played her best tennis against Venus Williams in the third round, sprayed balls wide and long to accumulate 44 unforced errors for only 24 winners.
Schnyder, 25, said reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal was "overwhelming".
She rose to a career-high No. 8 in the rankings in 1999 and was voted best newcomer on the women's tour in 1998 after reaching quarters at the French and U.S. Opens that season.
Raymond said before the match that she felt like she was finally peaking for the majors after her win over Williams and subsequent straight-sets fourth-round victory over French wild-card entry Tathiana Golovin.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
