[情報] Clijsters to play
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2004-01-18/
200401181074392665410.html
Clijsters to play
by Bren O'Brien
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Women's No.2 seed Kim Clijsters has confirmed she will take her place in the
Australian Open 2004 field despite still struggling with an ankle injury.
Clijsters suffered damage to her left ankle and achilles tendon while playing
for Belgium in the recent Hopman Cup in Perth, and while she admits she isn't
fully fit, she said was ready to play at Melbourne Park this week.
"I've done everything I could," the Belgian said on Sunday. "I've had a lot
of treatment and I've done everything I could to get ready and that's why I'm
willing to give it a shot."
"It's getting better. It's still not 100 percent but I've come here and
decided that I'll play and I'll give myself 100 percent."
Clijsters is confident that playing through the injury won't cause any long
-term damage, even if she makes it to the final.
"I started hitting two days ago and it felt okay. I'll play with it taped,"
she said. "If I don't do anything bad like happened at the Hopman Cup, then
I can play with it."
The 20-year-old said she pulled out of the adidas International in Sydney
last week because she wasn't confident she would be fit enough to progress
through to the final.
She applied that same criteria to Australian Open 2004, where she will have
to play seven matches if she is to win her first Grand Slam title, but came
up with a different answer.
"If I didn't think that I wouldn't be able to do that then I wouldn't start
the tournament," Clijsters said. "That's why I didn't play in Sydney because
I thought maybe I could win one or two matches, but beyond that I wouldn't be
able to give 100 per cent."
With treatment on the injury continuing on a daily basis, Clijsters said the
biggest hindrance in her preparation was overcoming the psychological effect
of being sidelined so close to the tournament.
"You're still a little bit scared moving around and stuff because it's still
fresh in your mind but every practice I feel like I'm more and more relaxed
and not thinking about it, which is a good sign."
Clijsters said if there was anything positive to be taken from her two-week
lay-off, it was the fact she could ensure her focus was firmly on the task
at hand.
"I'm not focussing on what's happening in the draw. I'm focusing on what I
have to do."
Clijsters can expect plenty of support from the Australian crowds, who have
adopted her as one of their own because of her relationship with former
Aussie No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, but said there was much more to the Australian
Open crowds than just fanaticism.
"There's such a great support. If you watch the Davis Cup matches, they (the
crowds) are fair. I've been to a couple of Davis Cup matches elsewhere where
the crowds are very one-sided, but here you can tell the people really
understand what they are seeing and they really understand the sport."
Clijsters' first-round match of the tournament is against Germany's Marlene
Weingartner on Tuesday.
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