January 2002
Kim will not be playing for a couple of weeks, giving her arm a bit of rest. A whole bunch of pictures will be added meanwhile (during this weeks)
24/01/02
Capriati Ousts Clijsters in Three
Defending champion Jennifer Capriati moved into her second consecutive Australian Open singles final, care of a testing 7-5 3-6 6-1 triumph over Belgian Kim Clijsters on Thursday.
The 25-year-old American outgunned Clijsters from the baseline, proving the more consistent player in the dramatic one hour, 37 minute slugfest. After seven service breaks in the first set, the top seed served it out in 43 minutes.
Clijsters, seeded four, recovered to break the American in the fourth game of the second set, closing it out with a freakish forehand half-volley that she scraped from her toes and deflected into the back corner.
In the decider, it was all Capriati, who leapt to a 4-1 lead and never looked back, setting up a rematch of last year's Australian Open final, against Martina Hingis
23/01/02
Fourth seed Kim Clijsters won the battle of the 'Belgian sisters' on Rod Laver Arena, Wednesday, beating No.6 seed Justine Henin 6-2 6-3 to advance to her first Australian Open semi final.
Watched by Aussie boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt, Clijsters moved into the final four after one hour and 14 minutes. The 2001 French Open finalist dominated the match from the baseline, scorching 17 winners and moving the ball from side to side with pinpoint precision. In contrast, Henin committed twice as many unforced errors (30 to Clijsters' 15) and broke Clijsters serve just once.
"If you let her into the match she's very tough to beat. It was important to get aggressive from first up," said Clijsters, adding that she blocked out her friendship with Henin as soon as she stepped onto the court. "I tried to block it out. Obviously I'd love to see both of us win a Grand Slam, it would be great for Belgium.
"As soon as the match is finished we're friends again. When on court, we're fighting against each other, but after we come off it's over," said Clijsters, who now holds a 4-3 head-to-head record against her countrywoman.
Clijsters' resounding run at Melbourne Park this year has seen the 18-year-old concede just 15 games in five matches. In addition, she spent less time on court than any of her quarter final counterparts (three hours, 12 minutes to arrive in the quarters). She will meet the winner of the match between top seed Jennifer Capriati and No.7 seed Amelie Mauresmo.
Clijsters Puts Friendship Aside to Beat Henin
'Sisters' was too strong a word to describe the relationship between Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, Henin admitted the other day. Yes, the pair are friends, but friendship is put aside when they step out on the court.
Clijsters showed no mercy to her compatriot on Wednesday, proving too strong for her smaller opponent and defeating Henin in straight sets, 6-2 6-3.
Clijsters was the more favoured player going into today's match, with three victories from their four meetings over the past 12 months. But Henin has been in form and was seeded only two places (No.6) below her opponent.
Henin could not maintain her composure during the match, and despite some excellent shots, she succumbed to the pressure of being in a Grand Slam quarter final. Henin had 30 unforced errors for the match, twice the number of her opponent. She appeared overly aggressive at times, and particularly struggled with her usual weapon - her backhand.
Clijsters looked strong throughout, playing a strong baseline game and rarely appearing stretched.
"I played very well today," said Clijsters after the match. "Only my serve could have been a little bit better. I was very satisfied with my groundstrokes."
Henin appeared bitterly disappointed to lose to Clijsters. The older Henin also lost to Clijsters in the semi final of the French Open.
"I didn't play my best tennis, for sure, today," said Henin. "It was difficult to come back in the match. I tried in the second (set), but she played very long, very strong. So it was difficult for me to be aggressive."
Clijsters will now advance to a Grand Slam semi final for the second time in her career. She became the first Belgian player to reach a Grand Slam final last year at the French Open where she was beaten by Jennifer Capriati.
She will now meet her Roland Garros opponent in the semi final. Capriati has beaten Clijsters in both their previous meetings, though not without difficulty, and Clijsters is looking forward to playing her again. "After the French Open we built a very good relationship together and I was practising a lot with her, so it's been nice. Of course I would like to play her and try to get revenge, if that's possible.
"I think we play a bit similar. We both like to attack and like to be aggressive from the beginning of the point. I think the one who can move their opponent around first in the point will actually win, and the one who makes less unforced errors."
Regardless of who wins through to the final, the Clijsters-Capriati meeting has the makings of a cracking match.
21/01/02
No.4 seed Kim Clijsters cruised into the quarter finals of the 2002 Australian Open with a resounding straight sets victory over Slovakian Janette Husarova 6-0 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena, Monday evening.
Clijsters took 45 minutes to inflict defeat on her stunned opponent, scorching 13 winners and converting five out of five break point opportunities.
This is the furthest the 18-year-old Belgian has progressed at Melbourne Park, despite reaching at least the quarters at every other Grand Slam event. Clijsters will meet countrywoman and No.6 seed Justine Henin in the quarters. This year, they met each other already in the Quarter Finals of Sidney: Kim defeated there Justine in two sets.
19/01/02
Clijsters ends Aussie's Dream Run
No.4 seed Kim Clijsters ended the dream run of Australian wildcard Cindy Watson on Saturday, beating her in straight sets 6-1 6-2 on Vodafone Arena to advance to the fourth round.
The top-ranked Belgian simply outplayed the inexperienced Aussie from the start, dominating from the back court with a powerful display of groundstrokes. Clijsters completed the match in 47 minutes, but might not be impressed by her excessive unforced error count (24 in total). Watson was presented with three opportunities to break the Belgian's serve during the match, but could convert just one.
Clijsters has now equalled her best showing at Melbourne Park and will next meet Janette Husarova.
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17/01/02
Kim cruised safely through her second round match against Barbara Schwartz. She defeated the Austrian with 6-1, 6-1. In the next round, she meets Australian Cindy Watson
Clijsters to Meet Aussie Next
Thursday, 17 January, 2002
Belgian No.4 seed Kim Clijsters set up a third round meeting with Australian wild card Cindy Watson with a 6-1 6-1 victory over Austrian Barbara Schwartz in 48 minutes on Thursday.
It was a solid performance by the Belgian who won 79 per cent of points on her first serve and did not serve any double faults in the match.
Schwartz failed to convert any of her break point opportunities and made a hefty 29 unforced errors.
Belgian Versus Southern Stars
Thursday, 17 January, 2002
Two popular Belgian teenagers, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, will this Saturday be cast in the role of the villains, when they take on the last two remaining Australians in third round Australian Open action.
18-year-old Clijsters, a straight sets winner over Barbara Schwartz on Thursday, will line up against Australian wildcard Cindy Watson, while Henin, who survived an onslaught from Marta Marrero, faces off against the top-50 ranked Nicole Pratt.
Fourth seed Clijsters is the girlfriend of Aussie Lleyton Hewitt - and so unofficially qualifies as this nation's honorary daughter-in-law. Clijsters probably spends as much time in Adelaide with the world No.1 as she does in her homeland, and is a regular fixture in the player entourage at his matches.
Her Aussie 'adoption' became complete last December when she donned a green and gold 'Fanatics' t-shirt for the final of the Davis Cup in Melbourne. Over the last two months, she's travelled from Adelaide to Perth for the Hopman Cup, on to Sydney for the lead-in event and then Melbourne for the Open. The girl who reached her first Grand Slam final in Roland Garros last year can't get enough of the Great Southern Land. And it appears the love affair is mutual.
The talented Belgian attributes her spectacular comeback from a set and 2-4 down against Silvia Farina Elia in Sydney last week to the dedicated 'hometown' support. "That's what made me sort of win my match against Farina, they really pushed me through there.
Says Clijsters of the extra attention: "Yeah, it has been great. From the first day I stepped on court, also in the Hopman Cup, it has been great. I've been getting a lot of support."
But she draws the line at being Australia's "great hope" and certainly doesn't feel any extra pressure because of her romantic liaison. "Well, I'm still Belgian, I'm not Australian," she beamed. "I hardly ever read the newspapers so I'm not really worried about what the people write. I don't put pressure on myself."
Watson is not fussed by the celebrity status of her next opponent. "But you are playing Lleyton's girlfriend," remarked a journalist to the matter-of-fact Australian. "Oh well," sighed Watson, who earned her wildcard into this event with some solid performances on the satellite tour.
19-year-old Henin, the No.6 seed, loves this place too, because it was here last year that she strung together a stunning 13-match winning streak, capturing back-to-back titles, on the Gold Coast and in Canberra. With the titles and her arrival on the pro scene, came an ever-expanding Aussie fan base. She went on to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park, falling to Monica Seles after holding 4-2 leads in the second and third sets.
In her first round match on Tuesday against the Russian 'superstar' Anna Kournikova, the diminutive blonde called on the support of that same fan base as she triumphed in straight sets.
Come Saturday she will need all the support she can muster against the feisty Pratt, who has the determination, athleticism and solid all court game to cause an upset.
15/01/02
Kim defeated in her 1st round match Christina Wheeler. She blasted her away with 6-2, 6-1. In the next round she meets Barbara Schwartz. Here's a report:
Clijsters Sweeps Past Young Aussie
Tuesday, 15 January, 2002
Fourth seed Kim Clijsters swept past Aussie wildcard Christina Wheeler 6-2 6-1 in a Tuesday night round one match. Allegiances were strained in the Tuesday night encounter as crowd favourite Clijsters, girlfriend of recently dispatched Aussie Lleyton Hewitt, took on the young Australian.
With Aussie egos bruised after Hewitt's loss on centre court the crowd was hungry for a local victory. It would be a tough job for Wheeler, Australia's fifth best female, ranked No.159.
Former Australian champion and new Fed Cup captain, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley looked on, but it soon became apparent that the hard-hitting Clijsters would not give any ground, snatching the first set in 30 minutes.
Making her second appearance in a Grand Slam, Wheeler had no answers for Clijsters' five aces, 177km/h serve and 24 winners, 13 of which were clanging forehands. Wheeler lost the second set in twenty-two minutes to the rousing cry 'aussie aussie aussie' from the crowd.
Wheeler's loss leaves three Australian females including Nicole Pratt, and one male, Mark Philippoussis, to carry Australia's hopes.
Clijsters will play Barbara Schwartz of Austria in the second round.
(from the official AO Open site)
11/01/02
The draw from the Australian Open is released. Kim plays in the first round against Australian Christina Wheeler. In a possible Quarter Final, she could meet Belgian Justine Henin, again... . But first, she can have a lot of resistence of Barbara Schwartz, Jelena Likhovtseva, Iva Majoli, Ai Sugyama or Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. Justine Henin meets in the 1st round Kournikova.
11/01/02
Hingis defeats Clijsters to move into final
Martina Hingis overcame problems with her serve and an injury scare to beat Kim Clijsters 7-5 4-6 6-2 and move into the final of the adidas International in Sydney.
The pair traded breaks throughout until Hingis saved three break points to hold serve and level at 5-5 and then win the next two games to seal the opening set.
Hingis raced to a 2-0 lead after breaking Clijsters in second, but the second set went the way of the first and both players' serves misfiring.
But Clijsters eventually held her serve to level the match.
Hingis raced to a 5-0 lead in the deciding set, but then needed courtside treatment for a leg injury and dropped the next two games, failing to convert on one match point against Clijsters' serve.
She had two match points at 15-40 in the eighth game before the Belgian got back to deuce.
But Hingis clinched the match when Clijsters put a forehand into the net, failing to stave off a fourth match point.
10/01/02
Kim reached the Semi Finals after defeating Belgian Justine Henin (world no. 7) with 7-6(7-5), 6-2. Kim had several set points on 5-3, but Henin broke Clijsters, and went on to lead 6-5 (to have on her way some set points). Kim broke back, and won the tie-break. In the second set, Kim lead 2-0, but Justine fought back to 2-2. Then, Kim won 4 straight games and went on to win the match. In the Semi Finals, Kim meets former world no. 1 Martina Hingis. The 2nd seed defeated Sandrine Testud with 6-4, 6-2. The other Semi Final is 8th seed Meghann Shaugnessy - 3th seed Serena Williams.
09/01/02
Kim defeated world no. 14 Silvia Farina-Elia in 3 sets: 6-7(4-7), 6-4 and 6-1. Kim was making a lot of errors, lost the tie-break and was looking at a 0-2 score in the second set. But she clawed her way back to win this match and set up a Quarter Final match against Belgian Justine Henin, who trashed Conchita Martinez with 6-0, 6-3. As Justine is playing right now at a high level, and Kim isn't playing her best tennis, Kim will have a lot of trouble with Henin. A victory will be hard...
Today are the seeds released for the Australian Open, which starts next week. Kim is -as world no.1 Lindsay Davenport pulls out- seeded 4th, Henin 6th. It's Kims highest seed ever at a Grand Slam. Last year, Kim reached the 4th round at the Aussie Open, losing to Lindsay Davenport.
08/01/02
Kim plays -as predicted- against Silvia Farina-Elia in the 2nd round of the adidas international. Farina defeated in the 1st round Russian Anastasia Myskina with 6-3, 6-2. Kim lost today her 1st round Doubles match on the side of Ai Sugyama to Henin/Shaugnessy with 6-7(4-7), 2-6.
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Kim starts this week at the adidas international in Sidney. She's seeded 3rd, after Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis, and ahead of Serena Williams. Kim received a bye in the 1st round, and will probably have to play against Silvia Farina-Elia in the 2nd round. In the Quarter Finals, Kim could possibly meet Belgian Justine Henin, who lost the Final from the Gold Coast tournament today to Venus Williams with 5-7, 2-6. This draw isn't official, but it seems to be the right one, excuse us if it would turn out in another way.
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SPAIN SNATCH HOPMAN CUP TITLE
SPAIN came from the brink of defeat to snatch a thrilling victory in the $1-million Hyundai Hopman Cup international tennis championship at Perth's Burswood Dome today.
The third-seeded Spain downed top seeds and tournament favourites the United States with a deciding mixed doubles victory by veteran Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and teenager Tommy Robredo.
They beat Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4, 6-2, clinching the Cup on their third match point almost 90 minutes after Robredo had saved two match points in his singles clash with Gambill.
Spain defied the odds after former world No. 1 Seles put the opening rubber on the board for the USA with a quality 6-1, 7-6 victory over Sanchez Vicario, also a one-time No. 1, with the tiebreaker going eight points to six.
But the rising young Spanish star Robredo put the final back on level terms with a courageous three-set victory over the more-fancied Gambill, winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, with the tiebreaker going seven points to two. The 19-year-old Robredo, who didn't lose a match in his Cup debut, saved two match points as Gambill served at 5-4 and broke back to force the tiebreaker.
The 30-year-old Sanchez now becomes the first player in 14 years of Hopman Cup championships to win the trophy twice, claiming the trophy in 1990, with her brother Emilio. Spain become the third nation to win the trophy twice, joined Switzerland and Germany as dual winners.
The ITF-sanctioned event saw the winners earn $240,000 prizemoney, plus the two special Argyle diamond-encrusted tennis balls, with the losing finalists taking home $120,000.
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USA is the 2nd finalist
Kim didn't win her third match. Monica Seles defeated her with 4-6, 6-4 and 6-2. Xavier Malisse lost to Jan-Michael Gambill with two tie-breaks: 7-6, 7-6. Belgium won the mixed doubles with 7-6, 6-2. USA plays the final of the Hyundai Hopman Cup XIV. We wish them both good luck.
It's not good looking, Kim won this year only 1 match, and lost the 2 others. She only played 3 matches, so we can't say much. I didn't see much of Clijsters' game this week, only some points, and she was doing it very well. Justine Henin has reached the final of Gold Coast against Venus Williams (the Wimbledon 2001 Final).
Next week, Kim plays the adidas International. Last year she lost in the second round to former world no.1 Martina Hingis with 4-6, 4-6 after beating in the first round Tina Pisnik. The draw will be released soon.
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Belgium also defeats France
In their second round, Belgium defeated the French team. Kim was able to win her match (her 2nd singles match this year) against Virginie Razzano. The Belgian swept her away with 6-3, 6-2. Xavier Malisse "the X-man" defeated Arnaud Clément with 3-6 6-3 6-3. France won the mixed doubles, so it came to a 2-1 winning for Belgium. Spain (from Group B)goes through to the Final when Australia has to withdraw. Lleyton Hewitt has the chicken pox. You don't have to fear, Kim had them already when she was a child...
Belgium next plays against the USA, in the decising round for the Final spot.
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Belgium beats Italy in Hopman Cup
Belgium bounced back from 1-0 down to beat a spirited Italian team 2-1 in the Hopman Cup on Tuesday. Xavier Malisse and Kim Clijsters won the decisive mixed doubles 6-3 6-4 against Davide Sanguinetti and Francesca Schiavone to snatch the Group A match.
Clijsters lost her match against Schiavone in 2 sets, playing on New Year's day isn't that easy...
Belgium beat Italy in Hopman Cup Belgium bounced back from 1-0 down to beat a spirited Italian team 2-1 in the Hopman Cup on Tuesday. Xavier Malisse and Kim Clijsters won the decisive mixed doubles 6-3 6-4 against Davide Sanguinetti and Francesca Schiavone to snatch the Group A match. quick access : This week: 2002 season kicks off Malisse had hauled Belgium back into the clash by beating Sanguinetti 6-4 7-5 after Clijsters had earlier been shocked by the little-known Schiavone. The women's world number five slumped to a 6-4 6-4 defeat in her first match of the new year at the mixed team event. "It was important to win that," Clijsters smiled after the mixed doubles. The Belgians looked more comfortable throughout in the doubles on the Burswood Dome indoor court and clinched victory when Clijsters dropped a touch volley just over the net. "It was good to get that win after losing this morning," she said. "I've played her before and she just chases everything down...I knew it would be tough. And 10 o'clock in the morning is early to be running around on New Year's Day." Malisse kept Belgium in the contest with a solid performance against Sanguinetti. "You know, first match of the year, it is always tough," he said afterwards. "But physically I felt good."
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Kim has to play against Italian Fransesca Shiavone on Tuesday. Their last meeting was at Leipzig 2001 in the 2nd round. Then Kim defeated Fransesca with 6-3, 6-3. Let's hope she's able to do that again...
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Kim and Xavier Malisse start their season on the first day of 2002. They play together in the Hopman Cup, representing Belgium. They have to open against Italy (Francesca Schiavone & Davide Sanguinetti). Italy defeated Greece in the play-offs to earn the final spot. In the 1st round, Australia defeated Switzerland with 3-0. Switzerland is defending champion, but Martina Hingis isn't playing. Spain defeated in group B Argentina also with 3-0.Belgium and Italy are in the same group as 1st seed USA (Monica Seles & Jan Michael Gambill) and France (Virginie Razzano & Arnaud Clement). Belgium is seeded 4th.
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Clijsters lands Belgium award for third time in a row
Kim Clijsters has been named Belgium's sportswoman of the year for a third consecutive year.
The French Open finalist beat her Federation Cup teammate Justine Henin in the poll of Belgian sports writers.
Clijsters also moved into fifth place in the WTA world rankings this year.
Clijsters, Henin, Els Callens and Laurence Courtois won the team of the year award after becoming the first Belgian squad to win the Federation Cup.
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Kim has won a lot of trophies in Belgium. She was Sportswoman for the third consecutive year, won the Flemish Giant, she was with Justine Henin selected as the Sportpersonality.
