6 Sep 2010

Clijsters through to US Open quarter-finals with easy win

6:50 am on 6 September 2010

The Defending champion Kim Clijsters has advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Tennis Open, easing past Serbia's Ana Ivanovic 6-2 6-1 for her 18th victory in a row on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.

The Belgian second seed will play for a semi-final spot against the winner of the match between Australian fifth seed Samantha Stosur and Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva.

Former world number one Ivanovic has struggled since winning the 2008 French Open title, having not reached a grand slam quarter-final since.

In other action, Italian sixth seed Francesca Schiavone advanced to the last eight by defeating 20th-seed Russian teen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-0.

The French Open champion Schiavone will play for a berth in the semi-finals against the winner of a later match between US third seed Venus Williams, a seven-time grand slam champion, and Israeli 16th seed Shahar Peer.