Clijsters suffers shocking exit
0 
Two-time French Open runner-up Kim Clijsters of Belgium was eliminated from the second round of the tournament on Thursday after losing to 114th-ranked Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 3-6, 7-6, 6-1.
The second seed Clijsters could have won the match but she wasted two match points in the second set.
"I started doubting a little bit," said Clijsters, who was playing only her second match since a right ankle injury knocked her out of action. "When you start doubting yourself on any surface, but for me definitely on clay, it's the wrong attitude to have."
The Belgian made 65 unforced errors in the match and lost 11 of the final 12 games. Rus finished with only 22 unforced errors and had only eight winners in the entire match.
"My ankle feels fine, so that has absolutely nothing to do with it," Clijsters said. "If I felt like I wasn't ready as much as I would have liked to be, I wouldn't have come here. If I wasn't feeling like I was able to play tough matches, then I wouldn't have made that decision to come here."
Seventh-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia also struggled but she won 11 straight games after trailing 4-1 in the second set and beat 17-year-old Caroline Garcia of France 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
World No. 4 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, No. 6 Li Na of China and No. 9 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic also advanced.
On the men's side, five-time champion Rafael Nadal, Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray, two-time French Open finalist Robin Soderling and No. 10 Mardy Fish of the United States reached the third round.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments