She was back--and then she wasn't. Kim Clijsters, who's been off the tour because of a foot injury (which was preceded by injuries to her shoulder, wrist and ankle), started her U.S. Open Series play today in Toronto. Clijsters had a bye in the first round, and in the second round, she faced Zheng Jie, and beat her 6-3 in the first set. But with Zheng leading 2-1 in the second, Clijsters retired because of an injury to an abdominal muscle.
Clijsters, who is number 2 in the world, is also the defending U.S. Open champion.
Serena Williams had no trouble winning her 1st round match: She defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-0, 6-3 in just over 46 minutes, and posted first and second serve win percentages of 100 and 76.
16th seed Dominika Cibulkova retired in her third set against qualifier Iveta Benesova. Cibulkova, who was leading when she stopped playing, has struggled with injuries throughout the season.
Canadian wild card Aleksandra Wozniak blew away Shahar Peer, 6-0, 6-1. Another Canadian wild card, Stephanie Dubois, also won her first round match.
In first round doubles play, Marina Erakovic and Julia Goerges defeated wild cards Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 7-5, 10-6. Kuznetsova and Pavlyuchenkova were both upset in first round singles play.
Too bad for Clijsters. Seems she is starting with injuries as she had towards the end of Clijsters 1.0
ReplyDeleteSerena seems off to a good start. What serving! Also great for the Canadian fans who got two wins today. With the seeds that have dropping out, it will be an interesting tournament. I am not betting on anyone!
It's not surprising about Clijsters. She has always been so injury-prone, and now she's older. Really too bad, though.
ReplyDeleteVery worthwhile data, lots of thanks for this post.
ReplyDelete