Clijsters racks up three wins in post-corona return to competition
Flemish tennis pro Kim Clijsters enjoyed her first winning matches this week since coming out of retirement last year
Player of the Day
Each match consists of five games: men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and one mixed doubles. Clijsters (pictured) won her three singles games, against Sofia Kenin – the highest-ranked player in the contest at number four in the world – Bernarda Pera and Danielle Collins. She had earlier won the mixed doubles round with the UK’s Neal Skupski, and was named Player of the Day by the event’s sponsor.
“It helped that I had the mixed doubles already, I felt I was on point, I was able to serve and return in the match situation. I served really well today,” Clijsters said after the victory over Kenin – a player 16 years her junior, who was inspired to succeed in tennis after a meeting with Clijsters as a child at the Miami Open.
Kim brings a lot of character to the team, a lot of experience. Playing mixed with her was unbelievable
“I made some unforced errors,” continued Clijsters, “which was a little disappointing, but I was good at refocusing whenever I had to serve well, and I was able to do that throughout my service games.”
Clijsters, from Limburg, made her name in the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning six Grand Slam titles and reaching world number one in both singles and doubles. She left the sport in 2007, aged 23, and had her first child. Returning two years later, she went on to win the US Open twice and the Australian Open, then retired a second time in 2012.
Last September she announced she would be launching a second comeback at the age of 36. However, the coronavirus pandemic has meant many of the tournaments in which she would have expected to compete have been cancelled. She played just two matches, both of them defeats.
The World Team Tennis event is the first major competition to resume and is being played under increased security measures and without crowds present. Nine teams compete in the tournament in West Virginia, with the top four at the end of July competing in a final playoff.
“Kim brings a lot of character to the team, a lot of experience,” said Skupski. “Playing mixed with her was unbelievable.”
Photo courtesy WTT
