Clijsters takes over No. 1 ranking

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Kim Clijsters took over as No. 1 in women's tennis, and she got there by defeating someone who used to rule the sport.

Clijsters won her Australian Open quarterfinal match Wednesday over Martina Hingis, who was making her Grand Slam comeback after three years of retirement. The victory moved Clijsters into a semifinal earlier today against Amelie Mauresmo.

Clijsters, who will replace Lindsay Davenport atop the women's rankings, won 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 over Hingis -- who won three straight Australian Open titles from 1997 through 1999 and then was a losing finalist the next three years before leaving the sport.

"I can be proud. You just can't think you're going to go out there and win everything," Hingis said. "I lost only 6-4 in the third against the No. 1 player, so I don't think it's that bad. You think I'm going to give up right now?"

Clijsters has been so troubled by injuries that the 22-year-old Belgian already has begun talking about her time after tennis. For now though, she's concentrating on added another major to her 2005 U.S. Open title.

"After the year I had last year, this is the cherry on the cake," she said about being No. 1. "It was never a goal. Keep working hard and good things happen."

The other semifinal was completed earlier today with Justin Henin-Hardenne rallying for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory against fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova. Henin-Hardenee was ahead 5-3 in the final set, but had her service broken before she broke Sharapova to take the match.