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Win returns Clijsters to No. 1

Kim Clijsters received a vase and flower arrangement following her return to the world No. 1 spot © Getty Images

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Kim Clijsters will return to No. 1 in the world rankings for the first time in five years, after beating Jelena Dokic in the quarter-finals of the Paris Open.

Clijsters, the recently-crowned Australian Open champion, initially looked like she might be on the way to a disappointing defeat - losing the opening three games of the match, before rallying back to take the next six and clinch the first set.

The second set was far more comfortable, as she carried on her formidable display to open up what proved to be an unassailable 4-0 second set advantage on the way to a 6-3 6-0 triumph.

The Belgian will therefore return to the top of the world rankings when they are released on Monday, the first time for her since 2006. The 27-year-old will replace Caroline Wozniacki, who was not in action this week.

"I'm very happy to again be the world No. 1 player here," Clijsters said afterwards. "It's not in Belgium, but it's very close. Thanks for all your support. I hope I can maybe win the tournament, too."

Elsewhere, fourth seed Petra Kvitova survived a scare against Yanin Wickmayer, edging through after three sets 5-7 6-3 7-6(3). Bethanie Mattek-Sands also booked her place in the semi-finals, seeing off sixth seed Andrea Petkovic 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3.

Kaia Kanepi was the last player to seal her place in the next round, the Estonian beating Dominika Cibulkova in a topsy-turvy affair, 6-2 2-6 6-2.

At the Pattaya Open in Thailand, second seed Ana Ivanovic crashed to a shock defeat to Italy's Roberta Vinci. Ivanovic received a warning in the previous round, when she only just managed to avoid being upset by Jill Craybas, but it obviously failed to spark her into life as she went down 7-5 6-3.

The Serb, who lost to Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the first round of Australian Open, struggled on serve and, ultimately, paid the price for being broken five times during the match.

Daniela Hantuchova crushed Akgul Amanmuradova 6-2 6-0 while there were also wins for top seed Vera Zvonareva and Sara Errani, though the pair needed three sets to prevail in their respective matches.

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