Kim Clijsters beat Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where she is increasing as favourite for the title.
Clijsters has won all three of her Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open - including the last two - and is aiming for her first major outside of America. She lost the final here in 2004.
The 27-year-old Belgian struggled to convert her breakpoint chances into service breaks, converting just 3 of 13 in the match, but still finished off in 1 hour, 28 minutes. She will play No. 12 Agneiszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals.
