By ,
Published September 13, 2015
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Third seed Kim Clijsters overcame the night chill and a sluggish start to beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 6-2 and march into the Australian Open quarter-finals Monday.
The Belgian, a three-times grand slam champion and Melbourne runner-up in 2004, sealed a tough victory a little after midnight local time with a drilled backhand crosscourt.
Clijsters squandered an early break gifted to her by a nervous Makarova and was forced to a first set tiebreak, which she took 7-3 on a cold night in Melbourne.
The tournament favorite resumed normal service in the second set, finding her range with her heavier groundstrokes to break the Russian twice and set up a meeting with Polish 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
(Reporting by Alastair Himmer; Editing by Martyn Herman)
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/clijsters-puts-down-marker-with-makarova-win