Clijsters, Azarenka make Aussie semifinals

MELBOURNE, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Kim Clijsters ousted No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open where she'll play Victoria Azarenka.

Clijsters, looking to become the eighth woman to win back-to-back Australian Open titles, defeated Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) with six breaks. Clijsters had 40 unforced errors but also had 39 winners. Wozniacki had just 13 winners against 26 unforced errors.

Clijsters took 51 percent of the points off Wozniacki's serve.

She was seemingly in control in building a 5-2 lead in the second set before Wozniacki came back and was even at 4-4 in the tiebreaker. But Clijsters took three straight points with winners to close out the match.

The loss will cost Wozniacki the world No. 1 ranking next week with Azarenka, No. 2-ranked Petra Kvitova or fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova all having a shot at the top ranking. Wozniacki has been No. 1 for the last 49 weeks and 67 weeks overall.

Azarenka, the No. 3 seed, kept her shot at No. 1 going with a 6-7 (0-7), 6-0, 6-2 win over eighth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska. After losing the 57-minute first set, Azarenka took 58 percent of the points in 64 minutes the rest of the way.

The 11th-seeded Clijsters owns a 4-2 series advantage over Azarenka. They split their two meetings in 2011.

The women's quarterfinals wrap up Wednesday with Kvitova playing Sara Errani and Sharapova going against Ekaterina Makarova.