Kim Clijsters receives a straight-sets upset by Laura Robson – US Open 2012
Four times Grand Slam title bearer, Kim Clijsters, received straight sets upset, 6-7(4), 6-7(5), by the British underdog, Laura Robson, in the second stage of the US Open Championships 2012 held on the hard courts in Corona
Park in Queens, New York City.
In an on-court interview, Clijsters told the media, “This feels like the perfect place to retire, I just wish it wasn't today. I gave it my all today and it just wasn't good enough at the end of the match. But I'm excited
for the next part of my life. But after thinking about the retirement in singles, I'm happy. The last year and a half or even two years have been kind of up and down, and I'm happy I stuck through it and lived a lot of these emotions I've had. I'm kind of
proud of myself in a way that I was able to do that."
The 23rd seed, Belgian held her opening serve in the set and continued her aggressive start from the beginning. Initially, she was successfully leading the battle against the young British contender
and squared the scores twice. The 18-year-old British tennis professional remained alert throughout the match and it clearly showed that she had a firm resolve to upset the veteran. She adopted a very confidence approach towards her rival and glided comfortably
towards the tie-breaker round after the scores levelled at 6-6.
The tie-breaker proved to be a tough challenge and both contenders struggled hard to mark their win. The Belgian professional levelled the scores at 4-4. Later, Robson unleashed at her opponent and closed the initial set
at 7-6(4).
In the following set, both the participants were eager to secure their lead in the set and did not miss a single opportunity to sideline the other. Both players managed to break each other’s serve twice. The former world
number one, Clijsters, tried hard to come back but the Brit opponent exhibited her iconic serves to fritter away the pressure. This caused the momentum to oscillate between the two players until the scores board clicked to 6-all. In the tie-breaker round,
the Belgian struggled with her full might but Robson nailed her with a crucial mini-break and wrapped up victory at 7-6(5)
For the next round, Robson will compete against the Chinese number one, Na Li, who defeated the Aussie Casey Dellacqua by 6-4, 6-4.
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