By Chris Davies
May 10 2003

Jennifer Capriati and Kim Clijsters set up a fantastic semi-final clash at the MasterCard German Open, Berlin with Amelie Mauresmo meeting Justine Henin-Hardenne in the other clash Elena Likhovtseva who in the last round beat in-form Magui Serna to reach the quarter-final spot could not beat the fourth seeded Capriati who hasn't dropped a set all through the tournament wrapped up victory in 72 minutes.

The American did complain about the heavy balls and long rallies after the match due to the damp conditions saying that it puts a lot of pressure on the arm and shoulder but overcame the problems to beat the Russian 6-3, 6-3.

Belguim sensation Kim Clijsters romped past seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-0, 6-3 in a very one-sided affair. This clash was the highlight of the quarter-final line ups but didn't live up to expectation has Hantuchova couldn't handle the awesome power and accuracy from the top seed Clijsters.

The Belgian could have wrapped up victory at 5-2 with match points on the Slovaks serve but lost a bit of concentration playing poor shots.

The world number 3 who can take over Venus Williams' slot at the number 2 position on Monday needs to reach the final to guarantee that she will be world number 2.

Amelie Mauresmo squeezed past a tight battle against Jelena Dokic's conquerer Iroda Tulyaganova. Mauresmo found herself 3-0 down in the tie-break but eventually winning through 7-5.

Also in the second set she found herself 3-0 down but the Uzbekistan's game started to go walk about and the Frenchwoman was able to peg back for 4-4 then broke to lead 5-4 and serve out for the match.

Justine Henin-Hardenne faced newcomer Vera Zvonareva who won her first tournament last week and has beaten Anastasia Myskina and Eleni Daniilidou but couldn't hold it against the defending champion.

The Russian did cause a lot of problems for the second seed especially in the second set being 5-2 down but forced her way back 5-5 only to lose it 7-5. Henin-Hardenne will have to pick up her game if she is to progress to the final.

Quarter-Final Results

(4) J CAPRIATI (USA) BT E Likhovtsecva (RUS)
6-3, 6-3

(1) K CLIJSTERS (BEL) BT (7) D HANTUCHOVA (SVK)
6-0, 6-3

(5) A MAURESMO (FRA) BT I Tulyaganova (UZB)
7-6 (7-5), 6-4

(2) J HENIN-HARDENNE (BEL) BT V Zvonareva (RUS)
6-4, 7-5