Zvonareva ousts ailing Clijsters

MONTREAL, Canada, Aug 20, 2010 (AFP) - Russian eighth seed Vera Zvonareva upset US Open champion Kim Clijsters 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the two million dollar Rogers Cup on Friday.

Zvonareva advanced to the semi-finals where she will face Victoria Azarenka who beat France's Marion Bartoli 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in the late match. The fifth-seeded Clijsters took a six-minute medical break where she was visited by a trainer for an apparent left thigh injury. She returned with her thigh wrapped and finished the third set.

"I don't like to give up," Clijsters said. "If something really bad happens, if you twist your ankle. But I was still able to move, still able to hit the ball, so I don't believe in giving up."

Clijsters was coming off a win last week in Cincinnati. Combined with a win at Miami earlier this year, she had won 13 consecutive matches on hardcourts. Clijsters dominated the opening set.

By reaching the quarter-finals here, Clijsters is projected to move into the third spot in the WTA rankings. The last time she was ranked that high was on in 2006.

She said the injury wouldn't keep her from defending her US Open title. She hopes to be back hitting balls in practice by Wednesday.

"It's the hip," she said. "I was trying to get an MRI this weekend but the hospitals here are full, so I'm going to get it done at the beginning of the next week in New Jersey."

The eighth-seeded Zvonareva had lost five consecutive times to Clijsters but now has beaten her the last two times they have played. She also won in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year.

In other matches, Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the semi-finals for the first time in eight Rogers Cup appearances with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over unseeded Zheng Jie of China and Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki beat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-3, 6-2. The 11th-seeded Kuznetsova has won all six career meetings with Zheng, all played on hardcourts.