SAN DIEGO, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Belgian Kim Clijsters beat Swiss Martina Hingis, 7-5, 6-2, Friday night to reach the semifinals at the Acura Classic in San Diego.
Ranked No.2 in the world, Clijsters is 29-1 in U.S. Open Series events in 2005 and 2006, and has won at Stanford, Los Angeles, Toronto and the U.S. Open in 2005 and Stanford in 2006.
Second-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova beat No. 6 Mary Pierce, the defending champion, 6-2, 6-3.
Clijsters will play seventh-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova, who defeated Russian Anna Chakvetadze, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Sharapova will meet fifth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder, who reached the semifinals by beating fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, 6-4, 6-3.
The winner in Sunday's final will earn $196,900.
