Clijsters, Mauresmo reach last four in Antwerp

ANTWERP, Belgium, Feb 17 (Reuters) Second seed Kim Clijsters cruised into the semi-finals of the Diamond Games with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Serbia's Ana Ivanovic.

The world number four was joined in the last four by top seed Amelie Mauresmo, who beat Russia's Dinara Safina 6-1 6-3 to move closer to claiming a diamond-studded racket worth one million euros (1.31 million dollar) yesterday.

The prize is awarded for three title wins here in five years. The Frenchwoman scored back-to-back victories in 2005 and 2006.

Clijsters will play France's Tatiana Golovin who defeated Russia's Elena Likhovtseva 7-6 7-5 in the day's last quarter-final.

The tournament is the Belgian player's last on home soil as she plans to retire at the end of the season.

''I feel good and the crowd were terrific again. It's such a great feeling out there,'' Clijsters told reporters.

''But I am just focusing on each day and each game. Hopefully I can make it through to the final on Sunday.'' Following a sluggish second-round performance on Thursday, world number three Mauresmo stepped up a gear to outclass Safina and set up a meeting with another Russian, seventh seed Anna Chakvetadze.

''I am starting to play better,'' Mauresmo said. ''You could see it was already going better than yesterday.'' Chakvetadze, ranked 12th in the world, defeated third-seeded fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-3 6-4.

Reuters SAM DB0944