Clijsters dominates Mattek-Sands to lead Belgium into Fed Cup semi-finals
Australian Open champion, Kim Clijsters, defeated American World Number 48, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in straight sets at the Fed Cup quarterfinals, helping her country Belgium to make it to the semi-finals of the women’s event.
The Belgian team will be facing the Czech Republic in April.
Mattek-Sands began the match well, and managed to take the first set against Clijsters. She outlasted the Belgian player in the tie-breaker, and won the first set for the US team.
However, Clijsters made a ruthless return in the next two sets to shatter her opponent.
With this success, the Belgian team has won three matches of the best-of-five series. Clijsters seemed exhilarated by this, saying, “It really feels good to see that 3-0 on the board so soon”.
This is the first time in Fed Cup history that the Unites States have lost two straight ties. They were defeated by defending champions Italy in the 2010 final. Earlier on Saturday, Mattek-Sands lost a match to World Number 26 Yanina Wickmayer.
She seemed determined to redeem herself in the match against Clijsters, and demonstrated her potential by giving the champion a run for her money throughout the first set. She served at 5-4 in an attempt to win the set, but Clijsters recovered to extend
the set to a tie-breaker, which Mattek-Sands eventually won.
Clijsters was impressed by the American pro, saying, “Against top players, she can play a great game. I was just hoping she would not keep it up”.
Once Clijsters lost the first set, she became determined to recover and made it impossible for Mattek-Sands to match her performance. She won the second set easily, and broke immediately in the third set. Her opponent began to crumble under pressure, making
more and more unforced errors.
Clijsters defeated Mattek-Sands with a final score line of 6-7(10), 6-2, 6-1. This gave Belgium a lead of 3-0 over the US, as well as a secure position in the semi-finals of the Fed Cup.
The semi-finals will be held in Charleroi in mid-April. Belgium will be up against the Czech Republic, which defeated Slovakia with three straight victories out of five matches.
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