Clijsters and Sharapova move on

Associated Press

MASON

Kim Clijsters is turning Cincinnati into her kind of town.

The defending U.S. Open champion reached the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open on Friday, beating Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (6), 6-4 in oppressive afternoon heat. The fourth-seeded Clijsters will face Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic.

No. 10 Maria Sharapova also reached the semifinals, beating France’s Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-4 in the evening match. She’ll play fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Clijsters is the highest remaining seed. Five of the top eight were eliminated on Thursday. Serena and Venus Williams dropped out with injuries before the tournament began.

That left center court to Clijsters, who seems to like the place.

Clijsters returned to tennis in Cincinnati last year, reaching the quarterfinals after a two-year break to start a family and get recharged. The 27-year-old Belgian reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati and found her touch. A few weeks later, she won the U.S. Open.

This year, she took a break from tournament play after Wimbledon and arrived in town hoping to use Cincinnati as a springboard again.

So far, hard courts have been agreeable.

“There’s moments when it’s good, moments when it’s not good,” she said. “Each match has gone better. That’s what I’m looking for.”

Clijsters passed her toughest test of the week, making a few more shots than Pennetta in a match close throughout. She hit a service winner to go up 7-6 in the tiebreaker, and Pennetta sailed a forehand wide to settle the sweaty first set.

Clijsters went to her seat and squirted water over her hair, trying to get some relief. On-court temperatures have registered 120 degrees the past few days, with oppressive humidity that made it tough to breathe after long points.