Clijsters exits, Henin through
Source: Agencies |
January 23, 2010, Saturday
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KIM Clijsters's fairytale return to grand slam tennis came to a shuddering halt at the Australian Open yesterday just as Justine Henin's own comeback started to gather momentum.
Clijsters was dumped from the first grand slam of the year after losing 0-6, 1-6 to Russia's Nadia Petrova.
The result was shocking enough but the scoreline defied all expectations, coming just four months after the Belgian won the US Open.
Statistics can sometimes be misleading but the numbers in this match accurately summed up a thrashing. Clijsters won just five points in the first set and made 26 unforced errors in total. It was all over in 52 minutes.
"She was good but I made all the mistakes and she didn't have to do that much. It just sucks it has to happen at this stage of this tournament.
"This is something probably you want to forget as soon as possible and go home."
No one was more surprised by Clijsters's meek performance than Petrova.
"I was preparing myself for a long day and a long match," she said. "It might have been a three setter."
Clijsters's loss overshadowed a special milestone by her compatriot and long-time rival Henin, who beat Russia's Alisa Kleybanova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, marking her 500th career win.
Henin would have reached her landmark a lot earlier if she had not decided to suddenly quit the sport in 2008 when she was No. 1.
Then again, she might never have made it at all had she not been inspired to make a comeback by Clijsters, who returned last year after quitting to start a family.
"It's a big challenge to come back and I think I love challenges. That's the way I am," Henin said.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal advanced to the fourth round yesterday along with Andy Murray, US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick and Fernando Gonzalez.
Nadal, who beat Roger Federer in last year's final, beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in a night match. The Spaniard broke Kohlschreiber's serve in the 11th game of the fourth set, then held serve to take the match with a winner.
Nadal next will play Ivo Karlovic, who beat Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7).
The fifth-seeded Murray, bidding to win his first grand slam singles title, beat Florent Serra of France 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 and is one victory away from a potential quarterfinal with Nadal.
First, Murray will have to beat American John Isner, winner of the Auckland tournament last week for his first ATP title. The 6-foot-9 Isner continued his strong form by beating 12th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).
No. 4 del Potro beat Florian Mayer 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 and No. 7 Roddick advanced 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) over Feliciano Lopez.
Next up for del Potro is Marin Cilic, who beat Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
Gonzalez, the 2007 finalist here, beat Evgeny Korolev of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Roddick and Gonzalez will play each other Sunday in the fourth round, with the American holding an 8-3 edge in career meetings.
Dinara Safina and Maria Kirilenko will play each other in an all-Russian fourth-round clash tomorrow.
No. 2 Safina defeated Britain's Elena Baltacha 6-1, 6-2 in less than an hour while Kirilenko matched her best performance at a grand slam when she beat Italy's Roberta Vinci 7-5, 7-6 (4), showing that her first round win over Maria Sharapova was no fluke.
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