Victoria Azarenka beats Kim Clijsters for Eastbourne semis

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Victoria AzarenkaFifth seed Kim Clijsters may have lost just three games and spent just 92 minutes in the victories over Yanina Wickmayer and Lucie Safarova en route to the quarterfinals of the AEGON International , but the Belgian struggled against Victoria Azarenka and lost 7-6(6) 6-4. Azarenka is now 1-2 in career meetings with Clijsters.

Unseeded Azarenka upset fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in round one and followed it up with a victory over Heather Watson for her first back-to-back wins in six tournaments.

In other quarterfinal matches of the day in Eastbourne, third seed Samantha Stosur reached her fifth semifinal of the year with a 6-7(5) 6-1 6-0 win over Elena Baltacha, eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli edged Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 5-7 6-4 7-6(5) and advanced to the semifinals of Eastbourne for the fourth straight year, while the 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova keeps fallings and her latest loss is to qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets 6-4 7-5. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

6 COMMENTS

  1. Marija, thanks for the details on the Clijsters/Azarenka match.

    (UNICEF) Henin has made it through to the semis and will play Dulgheru. Will she win this tournament which will be a confidence booster right before heading into Wimby? Ummmm.

  2. El, I read it that her coach Carlos doesn’t believe Henin is ready to win Wimbledon this year.

  3. Hi Marija,

    Thanks for the info. Early on upon Henin’s return the commentators would always mention that Henin returned for the one trophy she did not have which is Wimby. It was assumed that Carlos was training Henin for 2010(in fact that’s all they talked about).

    Is Carlos using psychology to catch the competition off guard? Or do you feel Carlos’ statement was sincere? Please, what are your thoughts. Thx!

  4. Marija, I didn’t think of it as lying but as a form of strategy. If pressure is taken off Justine to win Wimby 2010 that would be a great advantage. However; just as you have stated Justine is no less ready than the other players.

    Reading the link you provided tells me that I am not the only one thinking along this line. Thx for the quick response.

  5. El, Carlos is for sure a great coach who knows what’s best for Justine. It could be his strategy, but to be honest, when I first read his statement and believed him right away, for some reason. 😛

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