Clijsters Continues Comeback Defeating Petrova at Antwerp

Kim Clijsters showed some of the tenaciousness that brought her to the No. 1 ranking Wednesday at her homecountry WTA stop in Antwerp, defeating No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova 6-1 in the third to advance to the quarterfinals.

Unseeded in Antwerp, Clijsters is competing in her first tournament of 2005 after wrist surgery kept her out of play for most of last year.

"I think I surprised myself in how well I've done so far," Clijsters said. "It's a long time since I played someone that highly ranked -- at the Australian Open last year I think. My backhand's held up really well and tonight was a good test for it."

Seeded players into the quarters Wednesday were (3) Venus Williams (d. (WC) Razzano, bagel in the second) and (7) Patty Schnyder (d. (Q) Pin 6-1 in the third).

The wins by Clijsters and Venus set up a Friday quarterfinal meeting.

"I'm looking forward to playing Venus," Clijsters said. "It's just like old times again. Hopefully we'll both play many more times this year. What ever happens in that match, I've exceeded my expectations thus far."

Other unseeded winners on the day were Luxembourg lucky loser Claudine Schaul (d. (WC) Callens), and France's Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin (d. Safina).

Featured Thursday in Belgium are Molik vs. Maleeva, Mauresmo vs. Pierce in an all-French for the second consecutive week, Chakvetadze vs. Srebotnik, Golovin vs. Myskina, and Schaul vs. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova.