Clijsters ousts No. 1 Wozniacki
Serena Williams bounces her racket during her fourth round match against Russia's Ekaterina Makarova at the Australian Open. (Jan. 23, 2012) Credit: AP
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Caroline Wozniacki has been ranked No. 1 for 67 of the last 68 weeks and is seeded first at the Australian Open. Kim Clijsters, the defending champion, is seeded 11th. But unlike Wozniacki, Clijsters has shown that she can win on the biggest of stages, and she did so again today, beating the Dane, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in a quarterfinal.
Wozniacki showed resilience in the second set, coming back from a 5-2 deficit to force a tiebreak. But with the tiebreak even at 4, Clijsters came up with a big serve and a backhand winner to take a 5-4 lead. The Belgian then hit an inside-out forehand winner to set up match point and ended it with a swinging forehand volley.
Clijsters, who sprained her left ankle in a fourth-round win over Li Na, did not appear to be affected by the injury.
Wozniacki, criticized for holding the No. 1 spot without winning a major in 20 attempts, needed to advance to at least the semifinals to have any hope of keeping the top ranking.
Wozniacki, whose serve was broken a total of six times in her first four matches, was broken six times by Clijsters.
Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka reached the semifinals when she held her nerve despite having trouble with her serve in a 6-7 (0), 6-0, 6-2 win over No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska.
It was only her second win in six Grand Slam quarterfinals. She's never gone further than the semis, where she will face Clijsters.
The 22-year-old Belarusian extended her winning streak this season to 10 matches, including a title at Sydney, where she beat Radwanska in the semifinals.
Serena ousted. It wasn't just Serena Williams' serve that was missing yesterday at the Australian Open. It was her aura, too.
Ekaterina Makarova, the lowest-ranked player left in the draw at No. 56, didn't seem the least bit frightened of the error-ridden opponent across the net.
The Russian won, 6-2, 6-3 -- equaling the biggest Grand Slam defeat of Williams' 17-year career -- and will face Maria Sharapova in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
"I can't even describe how I served, to be honest," said Williams, who finished with seven double-faults and a first-serve percentage of just over 50. "My lefty serve is actually better than that. Maybe I should have started serving lefty."
-- AP
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