Clijsters returns with a bang after two-month long absence
On Wednesday, World Number 5 Kim Clijsters played her first match since her blazing streak at Flushing Meadows, where she seized the 2010 US Open tournament cup to defending her own title and defeat current World Number 2 Vera Zvonareva in the process. She
also defeated professional tennis players such as Greta Arn, Sally Peers, 27th seed Petra Kvitova, Ana Ivanovic, fifth seed Samantha Stosur, 3rd seed Venus Williams and 7th seed Zvonareva in the final.
Despite taking two months off after this victory, Clijsters seems to have recovered from the foot surgery which kept her off the courts after New York, and her performance at Doha is a testament to that. Although her match against Jelena Jankovic may have
left something to be desired, it was overall satisfactory, with the Belgian player defeating her former World Number 1 opponent in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.
Kim Clijsters has been training for the event at the venue, along with Samantha Stosur, for several days before the remaining athletes were able to make an appearance. She has been training to acclimatize herself to the atmosphere of Qatar, and it seems
to have worked; the tennis mama says, “Physically, I mean, I feel fine. [I] had a lot of test done with Sam [Stosur]. I feel good. Obviously you feel a little different when you get here.”
Kim Clijsters, who won the WTA Championships title in 2003, delivered a defeat to Jelena Jankovic, who was also recently defeated by the event’s second seed, Vera Zvonareva, in the round-robin matches. The night before the match, Jankovic had been unwell
enough to consider retiring from the tournament, and it is obvious from her performance that she is not currently at her best, recovering from a sinus infection. At the same time, Clijsters also exhibited some obvious signs of discomfort from her foot, which
reportedly is still sporting a small operation wound, most noticeably showcased by her unexpectedly high tally of ten double faults. However, she seems to have it under control, hitting the ball mostly from the forehand side. She also pitched 25 winners to
Jankovic.
The Belgian player began the match on a very positive note, breaking serve from the very beginning and executing a beautiful cross court running backhand shot, which gave her a double break at 5-2. In the second set, though, Serbian Jankovic attempted to
give Clijsters a run for her money. Clijsters was forced to save two break points when the score line was 3-2, due to her opponent’s increased regularity and effectiveness. Kim still managed to serve comfortably for the second set, scoring an easy win in both
the two sets.
Ultimately, Clijsters emerged as the victor over Jankovic in her first outing after the September Major, with a final score line of 6-2, 6-3, and this success puts her in a good position for a starting point in the White Group. The professional tennis player,
who is known to have one of the greatest comeback stories the game has ever seen – she returned to the US Open as a wild card after a two year hiatus, to become the first and only unseeded player to win the tournament in 2009 – seem quite pleased with her
performance, despite some mistakes.
In an official statement, Clijsters said, “It was my first match back, and I was happy - not with everything but I'll take that. I need to be a little more consistent and deliver fewer double faults, but I will try to be better tomorrow. I need to be a little
more consistent and deliver fewer double faults, but I will try to be better tomorrow (Thursday)." Seeing as the first match in this tournament was more like a warm-up than a regular performance for the World Number 5, her further performances guarantee an
interesting watch.
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