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Collision course Serena, Clijsters play quarterfinal matches WednesdayPosted: Tuesday January 21, 2003 5:48 PMMELBOURNE, Australia (Ticker) -- Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters each stand one win away from a highly anticipated clash in the semifinals of the Australian Open. The top-seeded Williams, the world No. 1 and winner of the last three Grand Slam events, faces an all-American quarterfinal Wednesday when she meets 25th seed Meghann Shaughnessy. The fourth-seeded Clijsters, who has won 23 of her last 24 WTA Tour matches, squares off with No. 8 Anastasia Myskina of Russia in the opening match at Rod Laver Arena. In men's quarterfinal action, No. 9 Andy Roddick of the United States faces No. 18 Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, and No. 10 David Nalbandian of Argentina goes up against No. 31 Rainer Schuettler of Germany. The 21-year-old Williams will try to reach the final four at Melbourne Park for the first time. She already has matched her best showing in the women's singles event here, also reaching the quarterfinals in 2001. Williams missed last year's event due to a twisted right ankle. In fact, the only time the two Americans have met was at the 2002 Sydney tournament. Shaughnessy was leading their semifinal match, 5-4, when Williams was forced to retire due to the ankle injury. However, Williams bounced back to win the next three Grand Slams - beating her older sister Venus in the finals of each one - and capture five other tournaments. She is 8-0 this season. Clijsters, meanwhile, can expect strong support from the local crowd in her quarterfinal. Nicknamed "Aussie Kim" due to her relationship with Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the 19-year-old Belgian has enjoyed the vocal backing of the Melbourne fans throughout the tournament as she attempts to capture her first Grand Slam title. The runner-up at the 2001 French Open, Clijsters has won her last three events dating to last season and is just the fourth player in the last 20 years to win three consecutive titles without dropping a set. Clijsters has dropped just 10 games en route to the Australian Open quarterfinals. However, Clijsters has struggled against Myskina in their all-time series. The 21-year-old Moscow native owns a 2-1 lead, but in their lone match on hard courts Clijsters recorded a 6-4, 6-2 win at Filderstadt in 2002. Myskina will be playing in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time. On the men's side, Roddick will look to advance to his first career Grand Slam semifinal. The 20-year-old Roddick rallied from two sets down in the fourth round Monday to post a 6-7 (4-7), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over No. 25 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia. Roddick looks to become the youngest men's semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 11 years. Richard Krajicek reached the final four at the age of 20 years, 51 days in 1992 and Wayne Ferreira also was a semifinalist at the age of 20 years, 133 days. If he wins on Wednesday, then Roddick's age will be 20 years, 147 days when he plays his semifinal. However, Roddick first must get past El Aynaoui, who fired 33 aces on Monday and conquered world No. 1 Hewitt in the round of 16, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. El Aynaoui will be competing in his second straight Grand Slam quarterfinal. He also made the last eight at the 2002 U.S. Open. The 31-year-old El Aynaoui is attempting to become the first Moroccan to advance to a Grand Slam semifinal.
© 2003 SportsTicker Enterprises, LP
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