All-Belgian, All-Russian Semis at WTA Eastbourne

The Belgians will be facing each other for the 21st time. The series is tied at 10-10 overall and 1-1 on grass. Both of their grass court meetings took place in the finals of another Wimbledon tune-up event, 's-Hertogenbosch. Clijsters won three years ago when Henin-Hardenne retired due to a left wrist and finger sprain, but in 2001 Henin-Hardenne prevailed in three sets, following that up with a run to the Wimbledon final. Clijsters knows she will have a tough task Friday.

"Even on grass, she's a very dangerous opponent," Clijsters said. "She's clearly the best clay court player around at the moment, but her serve has improved a lot, and her backhand slice stays really low, and those shots are definitely a benefit for her on grass as well."

Henin-Hardenne had an injury scare early in the second set of her quarterfinal Thursday, when she slightly twisted her knee. However, she said it's not a concern.

"I did some exercises after the match and there was no pain," Henin-Hardenne said. "These things happen on grass and I'm sure I'll be okay for my match tomorrow."

She added that she was satisfied with her quarterfinal performance.

"I started very well today but after I broke her serve at the start of the second set I think I lost a little bit of my aggression. My balls were getting a little shorter, and she improved her level, but I'm happy with the way I finished off the match."

Kuznetsova faced three match points at 3-5 in the third set of her quarterfinal match against Anna-Lena Groenefeld, but regrouped to pull off a 57 75 76(4) win to reach her third consecutive Eastbourne semifinal.

"The conditions were tough, I'm glad I hung in there and stayed tough mentally," said Kuznetsova, seeded No.4. "It was very windy and it was hard to know when to hit the ball and when to keep it in, but I'm glad I'm through to the semifinals here for the third time in three years."

Compatriot Myskina posted a 64 64 win over Nathalie Dechy, conqueror of Amelie Mauresmo, to set up a sixth career meeting with Kuznetsova. Myskina leads the all-time head-to-head series 3-2 but Friday's match-up will be their first on grass. Kuznetsova won their most recent meeting in straight sets but has to be weary because Myskina knows how to win on the lawns. Last year, she made a run to the Wimbledon quarters and in 2002 she made the finals at Birmingham and Eastbourne.
-- WTA

Krajicek Enters First Grass Court Semifinal

'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, The Netherlands -- Home crowd favorite Michaella Krajicek's Ordina Open fortune was reversed on Thursday when her quarterfinal opponent Jelena Jankovic retired at 6-6 in the first set due to a left abductor strain. Last year, when Krajicek played in the quarters here, she was the one who had to quit due to a right knee injury.

The Dutch teenager will next face No.1-seeded Elena Dementieva on Friday in her career-first grass court semifinal. Dementieva defeated No.5-seeded Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic, 76(6) 64, in her quarterfinal, but wasn't completely content with her performance.

"I think I gave up a lot of easy points in the first set," Dementieva said. "She made it really tough for me and I had to fight. I made a lot of unforced errors, but in the second set, I played much better."

The 2002 Ordina Open finalist will be playing Krajicek for the second time. Earlier this year, the two met in Miami and Dementieva easily swept her aside, 60 61. But she knows it could be tougher this time.

"There are a lot of good players in the draw here, so it's important for me to focus on every match. Krajicek loves the grass, and she will have the home support behind her. She's in very good shape, so it won't be easy for me."

Coming off a two-month season on clay, Dementieva said it's difficult to adjust to the lawns.

"Playing on grass is a totally different situation. I usually stay on the baseline, but if you want to be a Wimbledon champion, you need to go to the net. That's something I have to work on. Like today, I didn't have any chances to come to the net and I had a tough time in the match."

Dinara Safina and Eleni Daniilidou will face off on the opposite side of the draw. The No.2-seeded Safina edged Dutch veteran Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, 63 64, while Daniilidou advanced when Paola Suarez retired due to a left calf muscle strain. Safina is coming off a fantastic run to the Roland Garros quarterfinals, her best finish so far at a Grand Slam. She made the quarters here last year but was stopped by Lucie Safarova.

Her Greek opponent, Daniilidou, won her first of three Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles here in 2002. A year later, she made a run to the finals of another grass court tournament, Birmingham.
--WTA

Ancic, Baghdatis in SF Showdown at Ordina Open

Third seed Mario Ancic continues to loom as a genuine Wimbledon contender after breezing into the semifinals of the Ordina Open with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Fabrice Santoro. Ancic, a 2005 Wimbledon semifinalist, is making his first appearance of the grass court season but has continued the hot form he displayed during the clay court swing.

Ancic has won 16 of his past 19 matches and is 34-12 on the season. The Croat sits at a No. 12 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings.

Sixth seed Marcos Baghdatis reached his first semifinal since advancing to the Australian Open final in January with a 6-2, 3-0 ret. victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber (shoulder). The Cypriot will play Ancic for a place in the final.

Frenchman Florent Serra defeated seventh seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 to reach his first semifinal since winning his first ATP title in Adelaide in the first week of the year. Serra next plays 2005 semifinalist Jan Hernych, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee.

The Czech, who is playing his first grass court tournament of the year, had not won consecutive matches since August last year, when he reached the third round in Washington.
-- ATP

Gasquet Downs Simon; Sets Up Soderling Clash
 
Frenchman Richard Gasquet charged into the semifinals of the Red Letter Days Open by dismissing countryman Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday. The 20 year-old star, who is undefeated in this event (8-0), improved to 10-13 in 2006 and advanced to the semifinals of an ATP event for the first time since he claimed the Nottingham title last season.

Gasquet fired three aces and broke Simon in five of nine opportunities to win their first career meeting. Gasquet will next meet Robin Soderling, who overcame Janko Tipsarevic 7-6(4), 6-4.

The 21-year-old Swede, a finalist in Memphis (l. Haas), posted his fifth grass court win in 2006. Last week, in Halle, Soderling reached the quarterfinals before falling to Tommy Haas. The hard-hitting Monte-Carlo resident never faced Gasquet in ATP level events, although he defeated the Frenchman twice in Challenger events in 2003 (Zagreb and Besancon).

Andreas Seppi advanced to his second ATP semifinal of the season by posting a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1 win over wild card Andy Murray in two hours, nine minutes. The Italian, a semifinalist at Sydney, will next battle the winner of Jonas Bjorkman and Feliciano Lopez.
-- ATP
 
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARB
John McEnroe will play doubles with Jonas Bjorkman at the ATP stop in Stockholm in October...Goran Ivanisevic speaking to the BBC on Andy Murray: "This is a very important four-week spell for him and he needs a coach or someone off-court who can help him with his game. He can become a very good player but only if he has someone to guide him. I like his fiery temperament and it's an important part of his game. But he should look at John McEnroe as an example to help him channel his anger. He was the master at doing that. I used to take spells between sets to calm down and focus and it is important Murray does that too. He needs to use the crowd to his advantage. Once he has got them on his side then that is a massive help for him."...From X-Discussion boarder mariam: "mats (Wilander) needs to get a big bowl of shut-the-f*ck-up. I appreciate the sentiment and agree with it for the most part, but what the hell is up with half an hour long rants about players' balls, or lack of game plans, or whatever the hell he chooses to take on next? btw, considering that he's on a crusade against all power players, I wonder if (Shamil) tarpischev/others in the russian federation who basically claimed that wilander ruined (Marat) safin's game were onto something."...Hold the phones, a Brit has actually qualified for Wimbledon rather than being handed a wildcard in Josh Goodall, who beat American Scoville Jenkins in the final round of qualifying...Matches to watch for Friday: Kim Clijsters vs. Justine Henin-Hardenne (10-10 head-to-head), Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Anastasia Myskina, Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis, Elena Dementieva vs. Michaella Krajicek...Greg Garber writing for ESPN.com: "In the past, those who succeeded at Wimbledon -- Martina Navratilova won six straight titles during 1982-87 -- have served and volleyed their way to the silver trophy. Today, the serve-and-volley is basically extinct. The contenders at Wimbledon will find a way to finish points by moving forward when they can, but they will pick their spots. Players say that bigger balls and a slightly slower grass surface have contributed to longer rallies. Tim Henman, one of the last serve-and-volley dinosaurs, traces the change to 2002. "I think it comes as a surprise to everyone when the conditions change so dramatically," Henman said. "On a grass court, before it was about serving and volleying on both [service] balls. You can count on one hand, I'm sure, how many times I serve and volley [now]. There's exceptions to every rule. [Ivo] Karlovic, is he going to stand back [on the baseline]? Probably not. 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[Andy] Roddick for one, Ivan Ljubicic and Marcos Baghdatis too." -- Well, less walk and more talk Jimmy, take the cash and see how far you can stick your foot up Andy's ass...Who is this "Queen's Court" columnist Elizabeth Newman writing this crap for SI.com?: "However, if this year's French Open showed us nothing else, it illustrated the Swiss champ has exploitable weaknesses on the court. In Paris, [Roger] Federer demonstrated he can be bullied and in a big match, brazen attitude and a little good fortune are enough to beat him." -- You're right! Why hasn't everyone figured that out! Brilliant!...From Justine Henin-Hardenne, who at the French said she would probably have lunch with Kim Clijsters (did that ever happen?), now from Wimbledon on Clijsters: "We come from such a little country, so that makes things more difficult. 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I don't care to hear anything he has to say." Tamara grew up exceptionally close to her father. He attended her soccer games and tennis matches and helped sharpen her skills in practice. But lately, Tamara, now 20, finds herself wondering if those things ever happened."...From Patrick McEnroe writing for ESPN.com: "Andre Agassi enters Wimbledon this year as the 26th seed, his worst ever at the All England Club. Being seeded that low could be feast or famine for the eight-time Grand Slam champion because there's the possibility he could face a dangerous player in the first round and lose. There's also the chance he could benefit from a good draw and make a run." -- Uhh, as the No. 26 seed, doesn't he have the same chance of facing a "dangerous player" in the first round (aka an unseeded player) as any of the other seeds?..Pete Sampras tells the BBC there are too many baseline wussies and not enough net-attacking players to give Roger Federer problems at Wimbledon: "I don't see anyone with a big enough weapon to hurt him. They're just staying back and Roger is able to dictate well enough. You just have to serve well and attack him." Pete then added, 'Why don't they all just reach down and adjust their skirts and think about coming to the net.' -- Actually he didn't say that last part, but you know he thought about it..."Grinning" Greg Rusedski will be seeded if one more seeded player pulls from Wimbledon...Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan gets seeded after Nicolas Kiefer pulls from Wimbledon with a wrist injury.

Also see:
Friday Backhander: Murray the Role Model, Bellamy Banished
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-06-22/c.php