The 2005 US Open champion Kim Clijsters, who has received a wildcard this year, wasn’t really tested in her first-round match at the 2009 US Open and defeated  Viktoriya Kutuzova 6-1 6-1 in just 58 minutes.

The 26-year-old Clijsters is playing her third tournament after a two-year-long break and a child birth. The Belgian former world No.1 had scored victories over four Top 20 players (Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Victoria Azarenka) in Cincinnati and Toronto, prior to this US Open.

Clijsters will most likely face world No.14 Marion Bartoli in the second round, whom she beat in Cincinnati, in the match which opened her comeback to professional tennis. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Despite the deadly storm hitting Toronto, all the third-round matches at the Rogers Cup were completed and we have our quarterfinalists.

No.5 seed Jelena Jankovic ended the run of wildcard Kim Clijsters with a 1-6 6-3 7-5 victory, despite trailing 5-3 a very dramatic deciding set. Jankovic's next opponent will be Alisa Kleybanova, whom she has never faced before.

Maria Sharapova, who has advanced by beating No.7 seed Vera Zvonareva, will play No.14 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals.

"I have had a lot of rain delays in my career but probably not because of a tornado," Sharapova said after the match. "It was good knowing we were around cement in the player's area."

No.4 seed Elena Dementieva defeated her third-round opponent Shahar Peer on her fifth match point and here’s her interesting post-match comment: "Losing to Jankovic in Cincinnati after having four match points, it's just not enough for me. I really need five or more. From now on, every time I have a match point and finish the game there, I'll feel lucky." Dementieva will play Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals.

No.2 seed Serena Williams’s quarterfinal opponent will be Lucie Safarova, who followed up her second round win over No.11 seed Ana Ivanovic with a win over Zheng Jie. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo by our reader Colleen)

After having an amazing comeback to professional tennis at Cincinnati, Kim Clijsters has continued her winning ways.

Last week at the Western and Southern Financial Group Women’s Open, former No.1 Clijsters had defeated two Top 20 players and one Top 10 player (Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder and Svetlana Kuznetsova), before being stopped by current No.1 Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals.

Today at the Rogers Cup, Safina was upset in the second round, while Clijsters’ comeback keeps rolling as the Belgian defeated qualifier Elena Baltacha in the opening round and has now upset ninth seed Victoria Azarenka 7-5 4-6 6-1 in the second round.

Clijsters’ next test will be last weekend's champion Jelena Jankovic, seeded fifth, who beat Patty Schnyder 7-5 6-4 to advance to the third round. (photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Wildcard Kim Clijsters had defeated three Top 20 players en route to the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open before Russian world No.1 Dinara Safina ended the Belgian's fairytale comeback run. Final score: 6-2 7-5.

Clijsters defeated Marion Bartoli in the first round, Patty Schnyder in the second and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third, which were her first three matches after a more than two-year-long break, but top-seeded Safina stopped the former world No.1 Clijsters from progressing further by winning only the second time in their eight encounters.

"I really felt today that Dinara played some of her best tennis that I've seen," said Clijsters, whose return after a child birth has proved to be more than promising. "I think by far that's the best she's ever played against me."

Safina will next play world No.12 Flavia Pennetta, who defeated Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals one day after upsetting Venus Williams. By reaching the semis, Pennetta will have the honor of becoming the first Italian Top 10 tennis player.

The other semifinal pair will feature Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva and Serbian fifth seed Jelena Jankovic. Dementieva defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-1, while Jankovic lost only three games in the match against Sybille Bammer, who upset Serena Williams in the previous round. (source: ESPN, photo via Life.com)

Wildcard Kim Clijsters is still doing impressively well in her comeback after a two-year-long break and a child birth, scoring her third Top 20 victory in three matches she played since returning to competitive tennis at the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open. Third seed Venus Williams fell to No.14 seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round.

Clijsters started her third-round match with a 4-1 lead, and even though sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova leveled at 4-4, the Belgian won the set 6-4. We can safely say that Kuznetsova was saved by the challenge system in the second set. Clijsters was leading 3-0, and then 4-3, and just when we thought she broke Kuznetsova for 5-3, the Hawk-eye system said Kuznetsova's ball was in and in the end she leveled at 4-4 to eventually win the set. Still, Clijsters triumphed in the decider to defeat the sixth-ranked Russian, after victories over No.13 Marion Bartoli and No.20 Patty Schnyder.

No.14 seed Pennetta defeated third seed Venus Williams 7-6(2) 6-4 and extended her winning streak to 14 matches. The Italian won back-to-back titles in Palermo and Los Angeles, and has now reached the quarterfinals of Cincinnati.

Clijsters might face world No.1 Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals, while Pennetta, who is now 4-3 against Williams, will next play Daniela Hantuchova, the winner over seventh seed Vera Zvonareva in the third round.

Additional info: The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour made this nice video clip dedicated to Kim Clijsters’ comeback.

(photo via Life.com)