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Mauresmo books semi with Clijsters

Amelie Mauresmo returns to Ana Ivanovic during the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. Mauresmo won 6-1, 6-4. PHOTO: AFP

Top seed Amelie Mauresmo of France booked a dangerous semifinal clash with former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters of Belgium on Wednesday at the US$6.5 million WTA and ATP Masters Series tournament at Key Biscayne.

Mauresmo, ranked No. 2 in the world and chasing American Lindsay Davenport for the top spot, defeated Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-4.

Clijsters, gunning to claim her second straight WTA title from the unseeded ranks after a victory at Indian Wells, California, ousted fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-1.

Clijsters completed a women's semifinal line-up that will also see second-seeded Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia take on eighth-seeded American Venus Williams.

The men's quarterfinals got underway on Wednesday as Spain's David Ferrer, better known for his claycourt results, defeated Czech Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-3.

He'll face his exciting young compatriot Rafael Nadal, who defeated 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-2, 6-4.

Nadal, 18, has won two claycourt titles this year and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, where he lost in five sets to Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

He led the second set 5-1 before Johansson dug in his heels, winning three games in a row and saving two match points before Nadal finally managed to put him away.

Mauresmo, who had never made it past the fourth round in three previous appearances here, was also on the fast track to the semis, with a 3-0 lead in the second set against Ivanovic.

But she hit a speedbump as the 17-year-old upped her game, breaking Mauresmo twice, including when the French player served for the match at 5-2.

Mauresmo had two chances to claim the match in the following game, but it wasn't until she served again in the 10th that she was able to clinch the victory with a service winner on her fourth match point.

"She surprised me a little bit at 3-0," Mauresmo admitted. "She started really to hit pretty hard, and everything was in.

"I was a little bit surprised about that. I probably should have reacted more quickly to this situation than having to close it off at 5-4 in the second, which is always a tough situation," she said.

Ivanovic had rallied to beat sixth-seeded US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the quarterfinals but she said Mauresmo didn't give her the same opportunities.

"In the second set I had some chances, but she played well on those points, and she didn't really give me a chance to come back," Ivanovic said.

While Mauresmo has her eye on regaining the world No. 1 ranking, Clijsters' victory over Dementieva assured her of again cracking the top 30, likely meaning she will be seeded at the next Grand Slam of the year, the French Open.

"The seedings aren't really that important to me," Clijsters said, reiterating her belief that winning titles came down to beating top players no matter the round.

"I think if you want to get through the tournament, you have to beat them anyway," she said.

In Miami, Clijsters has posted triumphs over 12th-seeded Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy and fifth-seeded Anastasia Myskina, the French Open champion.

The Belgian needed just 54 minutes to overwhelm Dementieva, who displayed her usual devastating power but, as so often, was let down by her serve.

Dementieva had eight double faults, including two as she dropped her serve in the final game of the match.

On the men's side, Hrbaty also suffered from service woes.

The Slovak, looking far from the player who upset third-seeded Australian Open champion Marat Safin in the third round, had seven double faults, including two in a row to hand the first set to Ferrer and two more as Ferrer broke him to love in the penultimate game of the second set.

Ferrer, playing his first hardcourt quarterfinal of the year, was a bit shocked to find himself in the semifinals of a hardcourt Masters Series event.

"I'm very surprised," Ferrer said, adding that he relied largely on his ability to get the ball back while he waited for Hrbaty to err.

"Hrbaty is a rock," he said. "It would be easier for me to play defensively, just keeping the rhythm, keeping the play."

The remaining men's quarterfinals were scheduled for yesterday, when top seed Roger Federer of Switzerland was to take on sixth-seeded Briton Tim Henman.

Ninth-seeded Andre Agassi, a six-time champion here, was set to face fellow American Taylor Dent.
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