Clijsters edges Henin in battle of the Belgians

Kim Clijsters won the battle of the Belgians today when she beat Justine Henin 2-6 6-2 6-3 for a place in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Clijsters, who last played here in 2006 when she lost to Henin in the semi-finals, edged a close battle against her compatriot, who suffered a fall in the opening set and appeared to damage her right wrist.

After the first two sets were shared in just under an hour, Clijsters made the crucial breakthrough in game eight of the decider and Henin, whose usual fearsome baseline game let her down, had no answer as the eighth seed wrapped up the win when her opponent netted a forehand return.

Clijsters will play 21st seed Vera Zvonareva for a place in the semi-finals.