Tennis: Clijsters Finds Elusive Killing Touch

The strikingly pale blue eyes of Kim Clijsters burned with an ever-growing intensity as she realised that Venus Williams, the Wimbledon champion, was a spent force. In such situations in the past the Belgian has often been seized by crippling nerves and lifted her foot off an opponent's neck. Not this time.

Williams had led by a set and 4-2 in their quarter-final and, even when Clijsters levelled, most expected the five-times grand slam champion to power back as she had in the Wimbledon final against Lindsay Davenport. This time there was nothing left as she lost 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Williams' face, beaded with perspiration, remained calm. But her breathing was fast. The first set and a half had been white-hot with long, energy-sapping rallies. There were few cheap points and, if Venus is generally fitter than her younger sister Serena, whom she defeated in the previous round, she had nevertheless played only one tournament in the build-up to this one, losing 7-5, 6-2 to Clijsters in the final at Stanford.

The Williams sisters will argue, having won two of the three slams this year between them, that they are not falling behind their rivals substantially in terms of fitness and big-match preparation. But the comeback by Venus against Davenport at Wimbledon was a rarity for her, and Serena has done next to nothing since winning the Australian Open title.

These two outstanding champions have made careers of transforming the unexpected into the expected, and vice-versa. However, the lack of basic fitness cannot be disguised, or glossed over by simple weight of shot. It will be fascinating to see how the sisters respond next year.

Clijsters meets Maria Sharapova in tomorrow's semi- finals, the teenager and former Wimbledon champion having struggled to a sketchy 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory over another Russian, Nadia Petrova. The Belgian holds a 3-0 career advantage over Miss Moneybags, including a straight-sets win on a windy day in the Key Biscayne final this year.

Sharapova is nothing like as good an athlete as the 22-year-old Clijsters, nor has she developed her defensive game in the same way. But she is imbued with a force of will that is the essence of a champion and something Clijsters, who has lost all her four slam finals, has lacked - at least in the majors.

Much of last year the Belgian was out with her left arm in plaster, the injury so serious that she feared it might end her career. "Coming back has been a part of maturing. Being injured was very frustrating but now I am starting to think it helped in a lot of ways, both on and off the court."

Against Venus, it certainly looked that way.