Flushing Meadows, NY (My Sportsbook) - Defending champion Kim Clijsters was a third-round winner Friday at the U.S. Open. The second-seeded Belgian dropped the first three games of her match against 27th-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, but wound up taking the final 12 games to complete a 6-3, 6-0 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Clijsters, who has won 17 straight matches at Flushing Meadows, is aiming to become the first woman to successfully defend her U.S. Open crown since Venus Williams in 2001. Williams, the No. 3 seed, will open the night session against Luxembourg's Mandy Minella. Clijsters' fourth-round opponent will be Serbian Ana Ivanovic, who beat Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-0. Sixth-seeded French Open champ Italian Francesca Schiavone moved on with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over the Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, the 29th seed. Schiavone will next face 20th-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after she handled Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-1, 6-2. Earlier winners Friday included Samantha Stosur of Australia and Russia's Elena Dementieva. The fifth-seeded Stosur thumped Italy's Sara Errani, 6-2, 6-3, while the 12th- seeded Dementieva was a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova. Stosur and Dementieva will meet in the fourth round. |
