Clijsters beats Wozniacki to move to semis
<p>Maria Sharapova of Russia screams after winning a point against Sabine Lisicki of Germany during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/John Donegan)</p>
MELBOURNE, Australia - Defending champion Kim Clijsters beat top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the AustralianOpen semifinals on Tuesday.
The four-time major winner next plays third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who had a 6-7 (0), 6-0, 6-2 win over No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska earlier to move into the semis of a Grand Slam for the second time.
Azarenka is one of three players who can move into No. 1. Wozniacki needed to reach the semifinals to retain the top ranking.
It was only Azarenka's second win in six Grand Slam quarterfinals. She's never gone further than the semis.
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.
"I'm really glad I could stay tough and finish the match," she said. "I'm just really happy to be in the semifinals to give it all out there."
Azarenka lost just 12 games in the first four rounds. But she had six double-faults and made 38 unforced errors during her 2-hour match against Radwanska.
The first set featured eight service breaks, and there were 15 overall in the match. Azarenka's double-fault helped give Radwanska a 6-0 lead in the tiebreaker, followed by a wild errant backhand by Azarenka on set point.
Radwanska is now 0-5 in Grand Slam quarterfinals.
Five-time champion Serena Williams is already out of the tournament. Her 17-match winning streak at the Australian Open ended in a 6-2, 6-3 loss to No. 56-ranked Ekaterina Makarova.
The margin equaled the biggest Grand Slam defeat of Williams' 17-year career.
Makarova will face three-time major winner Maria Sharapova in an all-Russian quarterfinal.
Sharapova rallied past Sabine Lisicki 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 before defending men's champion Novak Djokovic fended off a resurgent Lleyton Hewitt in a dramatic last match of the day, winning 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
With Hewitt's loss, Australia's chances of celebrating a home singles winner were over. American hopes had already evaporated with the defeat of Williams - her first in Melbourne since 2008 and earliest since 2006.
Williams tried not to blame her left ankle injury from a tuneup tournament in Brisbane two weeks ago. But she didn't move well and seemed to have particular difficulty running to her left. She said if it hadn't been a Grand Slam, she wouldn't have played at all.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova opened Monday's play with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) win over former top-ranked Ana Ivanovic. She'll next play Sara Errani of Italy, who beat 2010 semifinalist Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-1.