Last Down Under match for Kim Clijsters
While Chinese tennis pro, Li Na, trains hard to leave her mark in the annals of Grand Slam history, comeback queen, Kim Clijsters, seems to be considering retirement once again.
The 27 year old Belgian revealed that her 2011 Australian Open final may be her last match at the Rod Laver Arena.
The supermom has been adopted by Australians as one of their own ever since her short engagement to native player Lleyton Hewitt. Now, she will enter the Melbourne Grand Slam in an attempt to bid farewell to Australia with a maiden victory.
Earlier today, she said, “I know this is probably going to be my last full season on the tour and then we’ll see. So it’s nice that I’m in this spot to reach the final, to play for the title. That is a great feeling to have, knowing that I’m not going to
be able to come here for five more years. So yeah, it’s nice to give myself the opportunity to play a big match to compete for the title”.
However, before winning the trophy, Clijsters will be faced with the task of taking down new World Number 7 Li Na.
Na is currently running with an 11-match winning streak, and recently defeated Clijsters at the Medibank International title match. When asked about her opponent, Clijsters acknowledged that Na was not a player to be taken lightly.
She also commented on Na’s redeemed confidence, saying, “She was never quite able to make it through a whole grand slam. I think she has that little extra confidence now and her game's improved and she's gotten even fitter”.
Kim Clijsters has been the favourite to win the Australian Open since the tournament began. She does not plan on altering her game plan much for her upcoming match, and has already said that she feels her defeat in Sydney was due to a bad day rather than
an inability to beat Na.
She told reporters, “It’ll be tough, but I’m going to go out and try to do the same and fight for each shot and then we’ll see”.
Tags: