• Australian Open, Day Nine

Wozniacki bows out as Clijsters marches on

Kim Clijsters dominated the quarter-final © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Wozniacki sacks Sanchez after two months
  
• News: Formidable Federer neutralises Del Potro threat
  
• News: Stamina key as Nadal outlasts brave Berdych
  
• Features: What does it take to beat Nadal?
  

ESPN will be providing extensive coverage of the Australian Open, with live scores, commentary and analysis and you can follow it all with our live scorecentre

Men's: Federer dazzles Del Potro
Men's: Nadal overcomes early scare

Day Nine Gallery
Plays of the Day
What They Said

Caroline Wozniacki's hopes of a maiden grand slam title were dashed by defending Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters, who claimed a 6-3 7-6(4) victory in their quarter-final.

Clijsters, who had never previously beaten a top-ranked player at a grand slam, started the stronger of the pair and was never headed during the match after breaking early in the first set to take a 2-1 lead.

Wozniacki will lose her world No. 1 ranking by tournament's end, as she lacked rhythm on her ground strokes and allowed herself to be moved deep behind the baseline.

However, Clijsters did let her first opportunity to claim the opening set pass her by as Wozniacki broke in the eighth game to get something of a foothold in the contest. It proved nothing more than a minor setback, though, as Clijsters broke back immediately with a running forehand winner to steal the march on her higher-ranked opponent.

The match then seemed to be beyond Wozniacki's reach when Clijsters surged to a 3-1 advantage in the second set. But, to the Dane's credit, Wozniacki pushed throughout and made a statement to Clijsters by breaking to love as the intensity of the occasion lifted.

But it was Wozniacki's relatively weak second serve, along with her reluctance to move in to the net, which allowed Clijsters to get on top once more as the 11th seed bossed the court.

Clijsters again showed signs of jitters as she was broken twice while serving for the match as Wozniacki forced a tiebreaker. The fightback only delayed the inevitable as Clijsters rattled off three consecutive winners to keep her title defence alive.

She will now take on Victoria Azarenka who earlier became the first player into the semi-finals as she held off a strong challenge from Agnieszka Radwanska.

Azarenka's only previous grand slam semi-final appearance took place at Wimbledon in 2011, where she lost to eventual champion Petra Kvitova. The third seed ultimately prevailed 6-7(0) 6-0 6-2 over Radwanska in a match which lasted two hours.

Indeed both players began the quarter-final clash nervously, with eight breaks of serve occurring in the opening set alone. Radwanska settled the better of the two combatants in the tiebreaker, but the eighth seed fell away badly thereafter.

Azarenka utterly dominated the second set, forcing Radwanska on to the back foot and making best use of her explosive cross-court forehand. The world No. 3 carried on her momentum in the deciding set as she continued to march toward her first slam title.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.