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London - Belgian eighth seed Kim Clijsters powered into the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Russia's Maria Kirilenko on Friday.
Clijsters secured a potential meeting with compatriot Justine Henin, who plays Nadia Petrova later on Friday, after overwhelming Kirilenko on Court Two.
The 27-year-old will be confident if she does face her old rival. She has beaten Henin twice already this year and is yet to drop a set in her first three matches back at the All England Club after a four-year absence following a premature decision, as it turned out, to retire.
Kirilenko was unable to pose any threat and Clijsters looks capable of emulating her semi-final appearance on her last visit here in 2006, when she was beaten by Henin.
Clijsters is a mother these days and happily juggles her practice time with parenthood, but she has lost none of her famed competitive streak, as she showed by winning the 2009 US Open as a wildcard in just her third event back on the women's tour.
It didn't take long for Clijsters to assert her superiority. A break in the fourth game secured a 4-1 lead which was enough to take the first set in emphatic fashion.
Kirilenko, the 27th seed, had reached the Australian Open quarter-finals earlier this year, but she was in uncharted territory here as she made her first appearance in the third round.
Clijsters broke again in the third game of the second set and, although the Russian wouldn't throw in the towel and broke back, the end result was never in doubt.
There was an extra power behind Clijsters' ground-strokes as she went for the kill and, aided by an bizarre air-shot from Kirilenko that secured the decisive break, the match was soon over.
