Kim Clijsters confirmed a highly anticipated all-Belgian final against Justine Henin with a victory over Andrea Petkovic Friday at the Brisbane International. Top-seeded Clijsters beat the 22-year-old German 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals, hours after seven-time Grand Slam title winner Henin secured a spot in the final of her first tournament since returning from retirement. Henin, who advanced 6-3, 6-2 over 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, leads Clijsters 12-10 in career head-to-heads after winning their last three meetings - all in 2006. “I don't think anybody, not even in Belgium, anywhere in the world, expected this would ever happen again,” Clijsters said. “It's nice to be a part of this new kind of Belgian tennis final again.” “It's always special when I play Kim. It's a day I like a lot,” Henin said of a final against Clijsters. “It's a perfect situation to play if it's a Belgian final. That's what a lot of people hoped for and expected. “We've had a lot of great fights over the years. But a lot of things happened to her, a lot of things happen to me. It's going to be a different situation. “Of course, I want to win this tournament now. Let's see.” During her time off the tour, Clijsters got married and had a child. Unranked and unseeded at New York in September, she become the first mother to win a major since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980. She only played one tournament between the US Open and Brisbane and was expecting a “big challenge” against Henin Saturday night. In the men's event, American Andy Roddick and Czech Tomas Berdych both won their quarterfinals to join holder Radek Stepanek and Gael Monfils in Saturday's semifinals. Roddick sent down 16 aces in beating Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-6 after Berdych edged past Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. “I knew I had to come out and play a lot more aggressively than I have had so far this tournament,” Roddick said. Wickmayer-Pennetta final In Auckland, When Yanina Wickmayer was banned for anti-doping violations, the first player to offer unconditional support was Israel's Shahar Peer. That gesture created an element of pathos when Wickmayer beat Peer 6-4, 7-5 in Friday's semifinals of the ASB Classic, the first tournament she has played since a Belgian civil court lifted her one-year ban in December. Her opponent in the final will be top-seeded Flavia Pennetta, who also felt sympathy for her opponent after sweeping past Italian compatriot Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-0. Last month, a court lifted Wickmayer's ban pending an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights. That cleared the way for her to play in Auckland in the leadup to next week's Australian Open. Cilic, Wawrinka in semis In Chennai, second-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia stayed on course to defend his Chennai Open tennis title by defeating Santiago Giraldo of Columbia 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the quarterfinals Friday. Cilic's opponent in Saturday's semifinal will be fourth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who outclassed Dutch opponent Thiemo de Bakker 7-5, 7-5. Third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka had to toil before emerging a 7-6 (5), 6-4 winner over seventh-seeded German Michael Berrer to move into the semifinals. Wawrinka will now meet fifth-seeded Dudi Sela of Israel, who defeated Slovakian Lukas Lacko 7-6 (3), 7
