Top 4 woman make semis
WIMBLEDON, England — The Wimbledon seeding committee got this one just right.
The top four seeded players advanced to the women's semifinals at Wimbledon: No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 2 Kim Clijsters, No. 3 Justine Henin-Hardenne and No. 4 Maria Sharapova.
It's only the fifth time in 25 years that the semis have featured the elite four.
On Thursday, 2004 champion Sharapova will play Mauresmo, and Clijsters will face Henin-Hardenne in the 20th career match between the Belgian rivals.
"It just shows how long our careers have been already and how consistent we both have been," Clijsters said.
Clijsters leads Henin-Hardenne 10-9, not counting Henin-Hardenne's two victories in lower-tier events in 1998 and 1999. Henin-Hardenne has won three of the last four, including at the French Open and Eastbourne grass-court tournament last month.
This will be their first meeting at Wimbledon. Henin-Hardenne leads 4-2 at other Grand Slams.
"It will be the third time in a month, so I think that we know each other well enough," Henin-Hardenne said. "But never here in Wimbledon. I don't know what to expect about that. I'm just going to try to keep the same preparation, nothing different from what I did in the last few weeks. The best will win."
Neither player has lost a set in five matches at this tournament. Clijsters beat China's Li Na, 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals Tuesday, while Henin-Hardenne downed French qualifier Severine Bremond, 6-4, 6-4.
The men's quarterfinals were set for today, featuring the matchup between three-time defending champion Roger Federer and Croatia's Mario Ancic, the last man to beat him on grass. That was 45 matches ago in the first round of Wimbledon in 2002.
Also, 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt will play Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis; French Open champion Rafael Nadal takes on Jarkko Nieminen; and No. 14 Radek Stepanek goes up against Jonas Bjorkman.
Henin-Hardenne reached her first Grand Slam final here in 2001, losing to Venus Williams. She has won the French Open three times since, and the U.S. Open and Australian Open once each. If she wins Wimbledon, she'll complete a career Grand Slam of all four major titles.
Only nine women have accomplished the feat, including Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova.
"As a kid, I wasn't dreaming about Wimbledon, I was dreaming of the French Open," Henin-Hardenne said. "Now things are probably different because it's a great challenge for me, Wimbledon. It starts to be something very important for me. For sure, I would sign for one Wimbledon in my career."
Sharapova is the only former women's champion left after the exits of Venus Williams and Martina Hingis.
Sharapova beat Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4, in a match briefly interrupted by a male streaker in the second set. Mauresmo beat Anastasia Myskina 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Mauresmo has a 2-0 edge against Mauresmo, with straight-sets wins on hard courts.
Mauresmo, who turns 27 on Wednesday, lost in the semifinals at her three previous Wimbledons.
"I don't think I have anything to prove to myself, first of all, or to anybody," Mauresmo said. "I just want more."
