Clijsters continues speedy progress in Eastbourne

EASTBOURNE, England, June 22 (Reuters) Kim Clijsters's speedy progress through the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament continued apace today when she beat Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-1 to reach the semi-finals.

Defending champion Clijsters had been on court for only 10 minutes before today as her second-round opponent Vera Zvonareva retired injured and she had a first-round bye.

The 23-year-old Belgian needed only 44 minutes to beat Schiavone in difficult, windy conditions and set up a semi-final against either compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne or Russian Elena Likhovtseva.

''It was not possible to play your best tennis out there,'' the second-seed told reporters. ''The wind was just changing the ball the whole time, it was just swirling around.'' Schiavone looked understandably nervous from the start. The sixth seed had never taken a set off Clijsters in 10 previous meetings, though this was their first encounter on grass.

The Italian hit numerous unforced errors, including missing two straightforward smashes at the net to give away the second break of the first set, and she was penalised four times for foot faults.

Schiavone, who turns 26 tomorrow, did save two match points with service winners but put a backhand into the net on the third.

REUTERS DH KN1902