Kim Clijsters takes on Alisa Kleybanova in the semi-finals of the Medibank International.
Clijsters had to step up a gear on Wednesday night for seventh seed Victoria Azarenka. There were plenty of pulsating rallies and it was far closer than the scoreline suggests but Clijsters still ran out a 6-3, 6-2 winner and she appears to be heading inexorably towards a third Sydney title.
Her form this week looks to be putting her in a strong position to be considered favourite for the Australian Open title. She's certainly been the easily the best in the world since last year's US Open and she has a theory for why that may be the case.
"I think it's a lot to do with feeling comfortable on the surface,” Clijsters mused. “I think I see the ball better on the blue courts."
Kleybanova stunned French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in round one and has taken full advantage of Caroline Wozniacki's shock exit to make the last four. She had a tough slugfest against Dominika Cibulkova but battled her way past the Slovak 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Kleybanova actually won their last encounter 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 at Indian Wells last year and that should help her psychologically for this one. However it would be a huge surprise not to see Clijsters saunter on into the final.
