Clijsters, Henin to clash in Sony Ericsson Open semifinals

Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin of Belgium will meet in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, the United States.

Henin, who is playing her fourth tournament since her return from a 20—month retirement, earned a berth in the semifinals by overtaking No. 2—seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Wednesday, 6—7 (7—5), 6—3, 6—4.

Clijsters advanced to the final four by beating No. 9 Samantha Stosur of Australia 6—3, 7—5. Three—time champion Venus Williams will play No. 13—seeded Marion Bartoli of France in the other semifinal.

Henin leads her rivalry with Clijsters 12—11. They’ve met only once since 2006 _ at Brisbane in January, which marked Henin’s return to the tour. Clijsters saved two match points and won.

On the men’s side, American Andy Roddick advanced to the semifinals by beating Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6—3, 6—3. The 2004 champion will play Friday against the winner of Wednesday night’s match between No. 4—seeded Rafael Nadal and No. 8 Jo—Wilfried Tsonga of France.

The quarterfinals did without No. 1—ranked Roger Federer, who lost to No. 16—seeded Tomas Berdych 6—4, 6—7 (7—3), 7—6 (7—6) in a fourth—round match.