Kim Clijsters will face her Grand Slam nemesis Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final of the Australian Open after both Belgians won with ease in Melbourne.
Kim Clijsters will face her Grand Slam nemesis Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final of the Australian Open after both Belgians won with ease in Melbourne.
Clijsters is without a major title after losing to Henin-Hardenne in the final at both the French and US Opens last year.
On Saturday Clijsters will have the chance to wreak her revenge after burying concerns over her injured ankle to beat the resilient 22nd seed Patty Schnyder 6-2 7-6(-/2).
Her victory, under the closed roof of the Rod Laver Arena, followed a far more straight forward display from Henin-Hardenne, who beat Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2 6-2.
Both Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne will be competing in their first Australian Open final.
"I hope I have learned out of those losses and hopefully third time lucky," said Clijsters. "We have both worked really, really hard and deserve to be here. I have got so much respect for her. She has gone through so many things in her life already and I admire everything she has done."