No. 2 seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters will face No. 3 seed Venus Williams in one semifinal at the 2010 U.S. Open.
Both Clijsters and Williams have two U.S. Open titles to their name. Clijsters has won the last two times she played here, in 2005 and then again after coming out of retirement last year in 2009. Williams won in 2000 and 2001, but has struggled in the past years here.
However, Clijsters was really out of form for much of her 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over fifth seed Samantha Stosur in the last round on Arthur Ashe court, but found just enough composure to emerge victorious for the 19th time in a row at Flushing Meadows.
There were 15 breaks of serve in a match littered with errors from both players but, as the game reached its climax, the Belgian finally found some form to hold off her Australian opponent, who should have cashed in on Clijsters’ sluggish opening.
Third seed Williams had it slightly better, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 winner against Francesca Schiavone, and the pair will now meet for a place in the final.
They are tied at 6-all in their head-to-head series, with Clijsters winning the last four in a row. It should prove to be an exciting match. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so they can play tennis against the opponent on the other side of the court instead of against the weather.
