Kim Clijsters eyeing a better 2012 – Tennis Special
Belgian number one, Kim Clijsters saw an amazing start of the 2011 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) season but a number of injuries sidelined her from many tournaments, including Wimbledon Championships and the US Open, last
year. Clijsters is now aiming to improve her scheduling and for a better upcoming season.
A former world number one, Clijsters cruised her way into the title-round at the Sydney WTA Premier Event. She eased through the seventh seed Victoria Azarenka but fell to eighth seed Li Na in the final round.
Entering as the third seed in the Australian Open – the first Grand Slam, Clijsters swept past everyone in straight sets to reach the quarters. She kept momentum flowing and dumped 12th seed Agnieszka
Radwanska and stunned second seed Vera Zvonareva in straight sets to set-up a date with Li Na. The Belgian bounced back to overpower the Chinese, resulting in not only regaining the second spot but also secured the number two spot in the Sony Ericsson WTA
Premier Rankings.
The Belgian tennis icon continued her winning ways at the Fed Cup and crushed the American squad with her display of exceptional skills. Her exquisite forehands earned her a bagel against Melanie Oudin and a breadstick against
the Lady Gaga of tennis, Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
A former world number one, Clijsters, kept momentum rolling at the Paris WTA Premier event and after battling past third seed Kaia Kanepi, Australian qualifier Jelena Dokic and German Kristina Barrois, she reached the title-round.
Her impressive winning run finally came to end when Czech Petra Kvitova halted her in the final.
The Belgian super star then made a third round showing at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (lost to French number one Marion Bartoli) and reached the final eight at the Miami WTA Premier event (fell to eight seed Victoria
Azarenka). Afterwards, she suffered an ankle injury in April after twisting her ankle while dancing at a family wedding. Adding further to her misery, Clijsters then suffered a right shoulder injury and was forced to pull out from Rome and Madrid Premier events,
before ousting from the second round of the French Open in May (suffered a 6-3, 5-7, 1-6 defeat at the hands of Dutch Arantxa Rus).
"The start of 2011 was really good. But after that I made some decisions I no longer would make now... After a physically and psychologically very strenuous Australian Open, the indoor tournament in Paris was the one event
too much. Now, I'll be listening to my body much better," the high spirited Belgian told to her official website.
The four time Grand Slam title winner was compelled to withdraw from the Wimbledon Championships, due to a foot injury. Later, Clijsters suffered an abdominal injury at Toronto WTA event and was forced to skip the US Open
where she was the double defending champion.
"I will take things one tournament at a time, but above all I would like to improve my game. I have been working really hard at my service, because that often did not go well in the past year," Clijsters hinted that she might
skip the Fed Cup.
The Belgian starlet recently played an exhibition match in front of 10,000 fans where she stunned the world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, with a 6-2, 7-6(5) score line.
Currently ranked 13th in the WTA rankings, Clijsters started off her new WTA season at the Brisbane before defending her title at the Australian Open. Unfortunately, the Belgian was stung by another
hip injury in her semi-final clash at the Brisbane International, forcing her to retire from the match on Friday. It will be interesting to see if the defending champion gets back her physical fitness before the action at the Australian Open starts in a week’s
time.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: