6/19/2000
KIM FAILS IN THREE STABS AT FRENCH
When Kim Clijsters burst onto the scene last year at Antwerp by reaching the quarterfinals there, it seemed to everyone that not only was she one to watch, but she was a clay expert. Unfortunately, one would completely disagree with that judgement by her results at Roland Garros. The farthest Clijsters succeeded was the third round in mixed doubles. Her partner was Aussie sensation Lleyton Hewitt who recently won his 4th tournament for the year at Queens. The pair fought back from set down in the first two rounds, but in the 3rd they had no such luck. They played doubles veterans Rennae Stubbs and Todd Woodbridge. The duo from Down Under defeated Clijsters and Hewitt 6-3 6-2. Before that loss, Clijsters and her women's doubles partner Lubomira Bacheva gave in too easily to Kvetoslava Hrdlickova and Barbara Rittner with a 6-2 6-1 loss in the 1st round. Even more devastating was Ai Sugiyama's first round beating of Clijsters. After a third set, Sugiyama was the victor with 6-2 3-6 6-2. Fortunately, Clijsters is still in the Top 30, and #30 to be exact. In doubles, she fell 3 positions to #80. Let's not lose hope though. Clijsters is on grass right now (her favorite surface) at the Heineken Trophy in the Netherlands, and next week is Wimbledon. Stay tuned!
~Clijsters City
|
