8/7/2000
TWO STRAIGHT FIRST ROUND LOSSES!
What's up with Kim and her losing streak? For two tournaments in a row, Clijsters has lost in the first round. What can we conclude about this mishap? Perhaps it's her "luck" of the draw. Maybe the young Belgian's not in her "upset" mode. Or perhaps she's too busy playing footsy with her beau Lleyton Hewitt—who also hasn't been experiencing great wins since his claim to the Queens Club trophy after defeating Pete Sampras in the final! But whatever the case is, Clijsters shall prevail in the end. The last two tournaments she played were the Acura Classic in San Diego, and The Bank of the West Tennis Classic in Stanford (both of which went to recent Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, and might I add wow, three tournaments in a row)! In Clijsters' first tournament proceeding Wimbledon, she lost to her doubles partner Meghann Shaughnessy of the USA in the first round 6-3 64-7 6-3. Then in her next tournament, she lost to Roland Garros finalist Conchita Martinez 6-3 6-4 in round one. Well, atleast she went down in good numbers. Besides, you can't upset everyone! Fortunately, Clijsters' ranking hasn't dropped. It stayed at 34. Singles maybe be plunging for the ingénue, but doubles isn't. Her ranking moved up from 79 to 71! Clijsters had a semifinal showing at the Bank of the West Tennis Classic with Shaughnessy, and a quarterfinal showing at the Acura Classic with Ai Sugiyama of Japan, both of which she and her partner lost to doubles pros Sandrine Testud and Chanda Rubin. Hopefully, by the time New Haven comes around (Kim's next tournament), Clijsters will be playing in top form! I guess it's not too bad to hope that the draw will be rooting for her too!
~Clijsters City
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