1/6/2001
Belgium Defeated by Slovak Republic and USA
On Thursday, Belgium met an untimely demise in Australia's Hopman Cup. The tournament is an interesting Federation Cup meets Davis Cup where the woman play the woman; the men play the men, and then they both play mixed doubles in hopes of honoring their country. At the end of Hopman Cup XIII, Switzerland's Martina Hingis and Roger Federer were the last standing. The Belgium team of Kim Clijsters and Olivier Rochus however, hit the high road when they played USA and lost 3-0. Clijsters, the highest ranked Belgian female player at 17 years old, lost to modern tennis legend Monica Seles 7-64 6-0. Clijsters obviously gave Monica a hard time in the first set where she almost won the tie-break, but as usual for a young player, they give up to their respected opponent when the hard-worked 1st set is over. Olivier Rochus, a tiny up-and-comer, lost to American pretty boy Jan-Michael Gambill. It's nice to see that Rochus gave it a good effort in both sets; he lost 7-61 6-4. The two Americans then teamed up to defeat the young Belgians in mixed doubles 4-6 6-1 7-65. Before losing to eventual finalist USA, Belgium was defeated 2-1 by the Slovak Republic. Clijsters, who lost a singles match to Seles only, defeated Karina Habsudova 0-6 6-4 6-1. Rochus, who won only one singles match, lost to Monte Carlo finalist Dominik Hrbaty 6-3 6-0. The 1-1 victories were decided by a mixed doubles tie breaker. The Slovak Republic were the fortunate victors with a 6-4 3-6 6-3. Before those two losses, Belgium had two great wins. They opened Hopman Cup with a 2-1 win over Japan, and a 2-1 win over Russia. Those wins channelled great motivation into both Belgians. Rochus, at 5'6, defeated world no. 2 and 6'5 Marat Safin when Belgium played Russia. This is a tremendous win for a young newcomer. Clijsters, who already has three tournaments, must be inspired to keep winning after winning 3 strait singles match wins. She will next play Sydney which starts Monday the 8th.
~Clijsters City
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