Clijsters must conquer pain to break Grand Slam duck against Henin-Hardenne

It will be déjà vu for two of Belgium's most famous exports when they contest the women's final at the Australian Open tomorrow, although Kim Clijsters is hoping to rewrite the script on this occasion.

Clijsters lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the finals of last year's French and United States Opens and, despite her prodigious talent, is still without a Grand Slam title. "Hopefully third time lucky," the No 2 seed said yesterday after beating Patty Schnyder, of Switzerland, 6-2, 7-6 in the semi-finals.

Henin-Hardenne, who beat Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2, 6-2, is equally motivated, keen to add a third major title to her collection. "I think about winning one day all the Grand Slams," the top seed said. "Physically I'm feeling ready for Saturday. I'm confident." The match will be familiar territory for the two women, who shared hotel rooms at under-14s tournaments in Belgium and have faced each other 17 times; Clijsters holds a 9-8 lead.

Clijsters' thirst for Grand Slam victory is heightened by a sense of urgency; she told Belgian journalists yesterday that she plans to retire "in two or three years". The 20-year-old, who recently got engaged to Lleyton Hewitt, is keen to have children and lead a normal life off the tennis circuit.

Her prospects of success this time are clouded by fitness doubts. She hurt her left ankle at the Hopman Cup in Perth and came to Melbourne uncertain how she would fare. She aggravated the injury during Wednesday's quarter-final and may face her first three-setter of the fortnight tomorrow. Yesterday she said she intends to play through the pain. "I just have to try and keep my mind off it," she said.

Yesterday a lapse of concentration gave Schnyder an opening in the second set, with the Swiss left-hander breaking serve to take a 4-3 lead. But as she tried to serve out the set at 5-4, her nerve failed. Clijsters broke back and then dominated the tie-break.

The No 22 seed, who was playing in her first Grand Slam semi-final, was disappointed. "But it's the greatest tournament I've ever played," she said. "Just to be there in the last few days, I'm really happy."

The 21-year-old Henin-Hardenne had an easy win over Zuluaga, the Colombian No 32 seed, breaking her serve five times. Zuluaga, who was the victim of bad line calls, took it in good humour. "I didn't win, but I had fun," she said.

Henin-Hardenne and Clijsters have very different personalities and styles of play. The latter is more reserved, and smaller in stature, but has worked hard on building up her physique. She is fast around court, with a legendary one-handed backhand. Clijsters, a likeable extrovert who held the No 1 ranking for a period last year, is powerful and extremely athletic.

Relations between the two deteriorated last year after Clijsters claimed that Henin-Hardenne faked an injury during the San Diego final. Matters were not helped when Clijsters' father, Leo, suggested that Henin-Hardenne's muscular development was "unusual". The latter told a Belgian newspaper afterwards that "nothing was broken between us because there was nothing to break ... we have always protected this image of friendship that never existed".

Clijsters will have one advantage tomorrow: the support of the home crowd. With Australians long gone from the tournament, and in recognition of her status as Hewitt's fiancée, she has been adopted as "Aussie Kim".