Melbourne, Jan 30: Second seed Kim Clijsters overpowered Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 6-2 7-6 on Thursday to set up the all-Belgian final. Clijsters overcame a sore ankle to reach her first Melbourne final, chasing her maiden grand slam title after losing to Henin-Hardenne in the 2003 French Open and U.S. Open finals. The 20-year-old looked sharp at the start, storming through the first set in 22 minutes after gaining the crucial break in the sixth game. Nerves got to 25-year-old Schnyder in her first grand slam semi-final as she served a double-fault to present Clijsters with a 4-2 lead. The gritty Clijsters, dubbed 'Aussie Kim' in Australia, closed out the set and cruised to a 3-1 lead.


Just as she had done in beating Russia's Anastasia Myskina by the same 6-2 7-6 score in the quarter-finals, Clijsters allowed 22nd seed Schnyder to rattle off four consecutive games.


However, Clijsters hit back to force a tiebreak and never looked back, storming through it 7-2 to wrap up proceedings with a ferocious forehand into the corner on her first match point after 74 minutes.


Bureau Report