Kim Clijsters of Belgium

3 of the four top and hottest players on the Women’s Tour will join Serena Williams and 13th seeded substitute for Serena Williams, Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Miami Open on Thursday. The 7:00 p.m. EST match up between tested Belgian warriors 14th seed Kim Clijsters and Wild Card entrant Justine Henin will highlight today’s card of events.

On Wednesday, the irrepressible Belgians just kept doing what they have done for their combined 952 career tour victories. The favored Henin fought off a very game number 2 seed; Caroline Wozniacki while Clijsters put down 9th seeded Australian serving whiz Samantha Stosur in the Belgian’s usual clean, efficient style.

The two winners will meet for the 24th time on Thursday evening. Henin holds a tentative 12-11 career won-lost edge. The two have played once since their returns from retirement to the tour. Earlier in the year at Brisbane, Clijsters emerged with a tough three set win. A possible follow-up pairing was short-clipped by streaking Nadia Petrova in Melbourne.

The number two seed withstood Henin’s initial surge. Trailing 1-3 in the first set, the Dane pretty girl rallied. Using her outstanding defensive play, Caroline forced Henin into more errors than usual. The tense tiebreaker went to the cleaner striker of the ball as Henin misplayed a backhand before succumbing 6-7 (5).

But, as everyone who knows Henin is aware, the 5’5” hustler does not go away easily. The former world number one and seven-time Grand Slam Champion upped the ante on her serve and used more varied locations to keep the Dane off guard. Henin lost just twelve points on serve the rest of the way.

Wozniacki played well. She did not disappoint in the moment. But, at 5-4 in the third set, the feisty Belgian served out at love, ending the Princess’s hope for a second consecutive final.

The Henin win preceded a great day for Belgian tennis, as 2009 U.S. Open Champion and strong finisher, Kim Clijsters sealed off Samantha Stosur in the nightcap semifinal. Clijsters tamed the torrid Stosur with a powerful serve of her own in the 6-3, 7-5 win.

These Belgians know how to close the deal. At 4-4 in the second set and with Stosur serving confidently, Kim broke at love and then completed the sweep with a strong service game.

Clijsters and Henin are countrywomen but the level of competition will be far from the mutual admiration society for the two highly competitive and familiar opponents.

Henin has more than $20 million in career earnings with Clijsters comfortably earning more than $16 million. Henin holds 41 WTA titles and Clijsters 36. The younger Belgian, Clijsters, will be the slight favorite in this evening’s match.

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