Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka will clash on Thursday in what should be a dramatic semi-final matchup at the 2012 Australian OpenYou can watch and bet on Clijsters v Azarenka live for free at bet365 > live tennisKim Clijsters, despite her injury troubles, continues to make progress towards claiming what would be a sensational title defence in Melbourne. Having survived four match points against Na Li in round four, Clijsters moved one step closer to glory on Tuesday with a 6-3, 7-6 win over world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
When asked about her fitness, the Belgian remarked, “Yeah, I'm as best as I can be. You know, so I'm very happy with the way that I was able to move. You know, it was so hot out there, as well, so, you know, today it was really tough. I think one of the toughest conditions I've ever played in. But, you know, it was good to win that in two sets at the end.”
Clijsters now has to find a way past Victoria Azarenka, who shows no signs of being willing to let her winning streak end at the moment. The Belarusian secured a big success in Sydney, and has been playing tremendously well in Melbourne. She lost the opening set of her meeting with Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarters, but fought back with all guns blazing to clinch a 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 win.
Clijsters knows she’s not in for an easy ride. “Tough player. Tough match,” said the defending champ. “She's playing extremely well, playing with a lot of confidence, and, you know, she's gonna be a completely different match than what I was up against today. Takes a lot more initiative. You know, hits a lot down the middle of the court, deep, hard.”
“So it's gonna be very important to be dominant. You know, she's improved a lot on her fitness and her movement, which was definitely a weakness in the past. She's worked on that, so she's becoming a more and more complete player. So it will be tough. I'll have to play some of my best tennis to try and beat her.”
