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ANTWERP, Belgium -- Venus Williams ended the comeback run of
former No. 1 Kim Clijsters, beating the local favorite 6-2, 6-3
Friday in the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games. Williams needed barely an hour to defeat Clijsters and stay on
course to win the event's $1.3 million gem-studded racket. The
first person to win the competition three times in a five-year span
gets to keep the Diamond Games trophy. "I have a major motive," said Williams, with the glittering
trophy behind her. "I am fully committed here." Williams, ranked eighth in the world, won the event during its
first two years before skipping last year's competition because of
a knee injury. Third-seeded Williams will play in Saturday's semifinal against
No. 2 Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who beat Katarina Srebotnik of
Slovenia 7-6 (6), 6-2. Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo came back from a set down to beat
Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and set up a semifinal
match against Australia's Alicia Molik. The fourth-seeded Molik
beat Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in just 59
minutes earlier Friday. Clijsters' last WTA tournament win came at the Diamond Games
last year. She has been troubled by a wrist injury ever since. She unsuccessfully tried to come back twice, but her form and
lack of wrist pain against Williams looked promising. "I never thought I could get this far," Clijsters said. In the first set, Clijsters was energized by a crowd which
cheered and thumped the boards after almost every point she won. Williams was not affected, though, and soon ran Clijsters
ragged. The Belgian saved two match points at 5-2 but failed to
break Williams's serve to stay in the match. "I still fell short that little bit," Clijsters said. France's Mauresmo, the world's No. 2 player, was slow and prone
to errors against Schnyder early on, and the No. 7 seed capitalized
by taking the first set. "I was nervous and had no patience," Mauresmo said. Mauresmo improved as the match progressed. She wore Schnyder
down and used her experience to prevail in just over 90 minutes. Mauresmo will be trying to reach her second final in two weeks.
Last week, she lost the final of the Gaz de France, her home
tournament in Paris, to Dinara Safina of Russia. "After the disappointment it was good to go for something new
immediately," Mauresmo said.
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