Belgium’s Kim Clijsters reached the quarterfinals of the WTA clay-court tournament in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, defeating 18-year-old Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-2, 6-1.
Clijsters dominated most of the match, conceding her serve just once, immediately after taking a 2-0 lead.
Playing with confidence and striking the ball much more cleanly than in her opening clay-court match of the season on Tuesday, her strength of shot often forced her frustrated opponent into errors.
Clijsters regained her advantage when a deep backhand forced a mis-hit from Kirilenko and gave her a break for 4-2, and a huge forehand forced another error on set point.
Clijsters, who has won 18 of 19 matches since her return from a career-threatening wrist injury, then allowed Kirilenko just one point on the opening three games of the second set, before a winning return gave her a 5-1 lead and left her serving for the match.
”I was seeing the ball a little better than yesterday [Tuesday] and didn’t make all those unforced errors,” said Clijsters.
”I was positive, focused, and it was definitely a big step forward compared to yesterday. I felt good and was hitting the lines.
”What I need to work on most is my movement. I’m not saying I move bad on clay, but I don’t feel as comfortable on it. Pushing off is a lot tougher, and I prefer to have the firm ground when as soon as I slide I can push back off.
”That’s one of the advantages I have, that I’m strong enough to do that on the hard court. On the clay court, it’s tougher. You push off but keep sliding.”
While Clijsters boosted her confidence with an easy victory, second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the US Open winner, admitted that she had dented hers by allowing Israel’s Anna Smashnova to take her to a third set.
The Russian eventually progressed 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
”Maybe it was good for my fitness and to get into the tournament for me to play a longer match, but not for my mental strength. You lose your mental strength if you play a three-set match,” said Kuznetsova, runner-up last year to Venus Williams.
”I had to play longer points and I wasn’t ready for that mentally. I didn’t play for three weeks and it’s my first match on clay, and it was a little bit tough. I was trying to win points too fast, playing like I do on the hard court.”
Elena Bovina, seeded fifth, was stretched by Daniela Hantuchova before winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
The Slovak held a break point to lead 4-3 in the final set, but netted a forehand, and Bovina then broke in the next game.
But Hantuchova still made the Russian fight for her place in the quarterfinals, holding a break point and fighting off five match points before conceding.
Eighth seed Silvia Farina Elia also advanced to the quarterfinals when she beat qualifier Zuzana Ondraskova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2. — Sapa-AFP