Belgium Ahead Again with Clijsters Win
Belgium Ahead Again with Clijsters Win
Kim Clijsters silenced any doubts about her fitness by beating Croatia's No.1
Karolina Sprem 61 63 to put Belgium 2-1 ahead in their first round tie in Bree.
With the tie level at 1-1 overnight, and with a shadow hanging over the status
of her injured wrist, which has seen her miss nearly six weeks of the WTA
Tour, Clijsters settled Belgian nerves with a performance full of verve and
confidence against Sprem.
"I feel like I'm starting to get my match rythmn back," said Clijsters.
"I was a lot more consistent than yesterday. You have to work for every point
against her - it's not like she's going to give you a lot of easy presents -
and I think I did that."
It took her just three minutes to break the Sprem serve and grab the match by
the throat and, save for a brief moment of weakness at the start of the
second set, Clijsters showed little sign of loosening her grip.
All eyes were on the Clijsters backhand, the shot which places greatest
strain on her suspect right wrist, but it stood up well to persistent
pummelling from Sprem.
"My wrist is a little stiff but not sore at all where the injury was. You
always give a little bit more of yourself in matches so it's good to come
through the test. The players know that my backhand is not at its best now and
Sprem hit a lot of balls there, but it felt pretty good."
"Kim just didn't make any mistakes, even on the backhand. She didn't miss a
ball," said Sprem. "I think that she was playing really great today. Maybe I
didn't play that well but you could say I wasn't allowed to."
Having broken in the opening game of the match, Clijsters set about breaking
Sprem again at 3-1 and 5-1 to wrap up a one-sided first set in just under
half an hour.
Serving with authority and feeding off the Croatian's powerful game, Clijsters
seemed in complete control until a sudden lapse in the third game of the
second set threatened to undo her all good work. She lost her serve to love,
putting in a double fault at break-point down to give Sprem a 2-1 lead against
the run of play.
Clijsters slumped in her chair, shrugging in annoyance towards her captain
Ivo Van Aken while her home-town crowd sat in stunned silence.
At 3-1 though, Sprem allowed Clijsters back in when her own serve betrayed her
and it proved to be a fatal mistake, for the Croatian did not win another
game. Clijsters, her game woken from its temporary slumber, reeled off five
straight games to win the match in 56 minutes.
"If you have 3-1 against such a good player it doesn't mean anything," said
Sprem. "She was going to play to the end."
Belgian veteran Els Callens will play the second singles match against
Croatia's number two Jelena Kostanic. Callens, who is also scheduled to play
doubles with Elke Clijsters against Kostanic and Iva Majoli in the fifth
rubber, was preferred to 18-year-old Kirsten Flipkens, who lost to Kostanic
on Saturday.
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不知KIM是否的好沒
TIER 1的柏林跟羅馬不知他要不要打
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