Clijsters comeback seals Venus clash

World number two Kim Clijsters came from a set down against outsider Silvia Farina Elia to clinch her first Wimbledon semi-final.

The second seed recovered from a shaky start to win 5-7 6-0 6-1 and will take on former champion Venus Williams for a place in Saturday’s final.

The big-hitting Belgian, who had dropped just 12 games in her first four matches, was given her first serious test by the 31-year-old Italian, who had taken 12 years to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Clijsters. “I made a little too many unforced errors in the first set.

“It was tough, especially with the weather. I had to find my footwork. I was not moving as well. It was a matter of finding my rhythm and, once I did that, I played well in the second and third sets.

“My first-serve percentage went up, which is something I had to do.”

Farina Elia played some inspired tennis from the start and was level at 2-2 and 30-15 up on Clijsters’ serve when rain forced a lengthy delay.

But she quickly picked up from where she left off and became the first player in the championships to take a set off the second seed.

Farina Elia, the first Italian to reach the women’s last eight for 14 years, won four of her five service games to love and got her sliced backhand working to force her opponent into making a series of errors.

Clijsters missed three set points as Farina Elia, 11 years her senior, fought back from 0-40 down on her own serve to win five points in a row.

In fact, Clijsters won just two of 15 points before transforming the match at the start of the second set. She re-discovered her big first serve and, as she increased the power stakes, it was the Italian’s turn to come up with the errors.

Clijsters won nine games in a row and, although her veteran opponent managed to briefly stop the rot, the Belgian was on a virtually on cruise control towards the end as she ran away with the match.