Clijsters breezes into third round

Defending champion Kim Clijsters reached the third round of the US Open on Wednesday by defeating Sally Peers of Australia 6-3, 6-1.

The Belgian second seed will play 27th seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic for a place in the fourth round after she defeated Britain's Elena Baltacha 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.

It was a routine victory for Clijsters, her 16th in a row at Flushing Meadows, against the promising 19-year-old from Melbourne, who came through qualifying to gain entry to her first Grand Slam tournament.

The defending champion jumped out into a 2-0 lead, but some poor serving allowed Peers to break back in the third game.

Another exchange of breaks saw Clijsters leading 3-2, but the 27-year-old two-time former champion broke for the third consecutive time and then held to take command of the set, which she sealed in 32 minutes. AFP