Clijsters Cruises in Return to Indian Wells
March 9, 2005
Clijsters Cruises in Return to Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - The third round withdrawal by Kim Clijsters at last
year's Pacific Life Open turned out to be the beginning of a very painful 2004
season for the former world No.1.
It was just one year ago at Indian Wells that the left wrist injury began to
tear apart the Belgian's season. Now, the tennis comeback has began for
Clijsters, who easily advanced to the second round at Indian Wells on
Wednesday, defeating Nicole Pratt, 62 61.
"I've always enjoyed coming here," said Clijsters of returning to Indian Wells.
"I thought this would be a good starting point."
Just one month after last year's withdrawal from Indian Wells, Clijsters was
back on court playing a pair of Fed Cup matches for Belgium and hoping to put
the pain in her wrist in the past.
She survived those two Fed Cup matches, but wouldn't outlast the next event at
Berlin, again forced to withdrawal after only one match. It was evident
during her time at the clay court event that the left wrist was still causing
her significant pain.
In June, Clijsters underwent surgery to repair a torn tendon and remove a
cyst from her wrist. After almost four months of rehab, Clijsters attempts
another return to action at Hasselt, only to reaggravate her left wrist.
Clijsters played her first matches since October last month at Antwerp where
she defeated Jelena Kostanic and Nadia Petrova before a straight sets loss to
Venus Williams.
The 2003 Indian Wells winner has now won eight straight matches at the event.
Along with her title run two years ago, Clijsters defeated Angelika Roesch in
the second round at the 2004 event before the left wrist injury forced her
withdrawal.
"You have to stay positive and train hard to try to get back," Clijsters said.
"It is a challenge to see where you can go from here.
"I still feel like there are many things I need to work on. The match rhythm
is something you can only get by playing those top matches."
Clijsters' next challenge will come from No.16 seed Shinobu Asagoe in the
second round.
In 2000, college teammates Laura Granville and Marissa Irvin squared off in
the NCAA Championships singles final. Granville prevailed in that match, and on
Wednesday, she showed that she still has the upperhand against her fellow
Stanford standout, defeating Irvin, 63 36 64.
Both players were struggling at times with the heat, especially Irvin, who was
cramping late in the match. Granville will face No.30 seed Evengia Linetskaya
in the second round.
Another American, Abigail Spears came back from a 5-2 deficit in the third set
to prevail in a decisive tie-break against Lubomira Kurhajcova, 46 63 76(0).
Meanwhile, wild card Jamea Jackson joined her countrywoman in the round of 64
with a 76(4) 64 win against Germany's Anca Barna.
Three players that survived the qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the main
draw posted convincing first round victories on Day 1. Maria Kirilenko dropped
just one game in a 60 61 victory against Tatiana Perebiynis, while Silvija
Talaja defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja, 62 60 and Eva Birnerova won in straight
sets against Tamarine Tanasugarn, 64 62.
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