Clijsters,Zvonareva in Australia Open semis

The semifinal tomorrow will be a rematch of the last U.S. Open final,where Clijsters won to collect her third Grand Slam title.

Clijsters is the only Grand Slam winner into the women8217;s semis,although she8217;s still seeking her first major title on non-American soil. No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and China8217;s Li Na meet for a place in the final from the other half of the draw. 8220;I hope the experience can help me a little bit,8221; Clijsters said. 8220;But there are some tough players out there,we have Nos. 1,2,3 still in and Li Na has been playing really well. So it is going to be really tough.

8220;I lost to Vera at Wimbledon last year,I beat her in finals of U.S. Open.8221;

Zvonareva has lost the last two Grand Slam finals,including the loss to Clijsters in New York and to Serena Williams at Wimbledon.

Clijsters was up a set and a break before Radwanska rallied,winning three straight games to lead 5-4 and have a chance to serve for the second set.

With six Royal Australian Air Force 8220;Roulettes8221; flying overhead,Clijsters finally converted her fourth break-point chance to level it 5-5 and the set went to a tiebreaker. 8220;I think the planes kind of took me up higher!8221; Clijsters joked. She8217;s long been a crowd favorite in Australia,where she8217;s still called 8220;Aussie Kim.8221; She was engaged for a time to former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt. 8220;Happy Australia Day everybody,8221; she said in a salute to her supporters.

Clijsters has now reached the semifinals five times in Australia. Her best run remains her run to the final in 2004,when she lost to fellow Belgian Justine Henin.

Zvonareva was distracted during her match,when she wore a black ribbon on her hat in honor of the 35 victims of the suicide bombing at a Moscow airport this week.

Zvonareva and Kvitova were surprised during the match when cannons went off in a nearby park. And Zvonareva asked that the match be stopped for a few minutes while a woman in her sightline was given medical attention in the stands,but chair umpire Mariana Alves told them to continue. 8220;I didn8217;t know they were going to start this noise during our match,it was a difficult moment,8221; said Zvonareva,who led the final set 3-0 before the disruptions but saw Kvitova level it at 4-4. 8220;You8217;re here to play tennis 8230; I was trying to keep my concentration.8221;

On Tuesday,Roger Federer was reluctant to talk about possibly playing Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final,and with good reason.

After all,he8217;s playing Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Federer and Nadal have dominated the Grand Slam tournaments,winning 21 of the last 23 titles. But Djokovic is dangerous,and Federer knows his one-match-at-a-time mantra is sound strategy. 8220;He takes it to the opponent,8221; Federer said.

Federer routed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-1,6-3,6-3 in the first all-Swiss quarterfinal at a major. Djokovic eliminated Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych 6-1,7-6 5,6-1 on Tuesday night.

On the women8217;s side,Wozniacki beat Francesca Schiavone 3-6,6-3,6-3 in one quarterfinal,and Li Na defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-2,6-4 in the other.

It was at this stage of the 2008 Australian Open that Djokovic beat Federer before going on to win his first and only Grand Slam singles title. Federer also lost to Djokovic after having two match points in the U.S. Open semifinals last September.

A mental lapse at Flushing Meadows cost Federer. 8220;I was playing good enough to win,8221; Federer said. 8220;But I was a bit confused mentally,maybe,because we played the second session. 8230; Maybe I just felt like I have to get out of this match as quick as I could to save energy to play Rafa the next day. I think it ended up hurting me losing the match at the end.8221;

It ended a sequence for Federer of six straight finals appearances in New York.

And then Djokovic lost to Nadal in the final,giving the Spaniard his first U.S. Open title. That set him on the path toward his Rafa Slam 8211; Nadal is aiming to be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles at once.