Kim Clijsters suffers worst loss in 555 matches

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Former world No.1 Kim Clijsters suffered the worst loss of both of her careers which featured 555 matches, losing to seed No.19 Nadia Petrova 6-0 6-1 in the third round of the Australian Open in just 52 minutes.

The 15th-seeded Clijsters, who won the US Open last season and the Brisbane International just before coming to the Australian Open, scored only five points in the first set and made 17 unforced errors.

The Belgian couldn’t find her game throughout the match:

The way I played today, I was completely off and I didn’t feel the ball at all. She was good, but she really didn’t have to do much. She served really well and was aggressive, but that’s because I let her play into the court.

Before this one, Clijsters’ worst defeat came nine years ago in Miami when she lost to Serena Williams 6-0 6-2.

10 COMMENTS

  1. I understand she is terribly disappointed, come on, she totally crushed out. But I think she should give Petrova more credit, she got beaten fair and square so all this “I was a bit off ” sounds a bit insolent.

  2. I completely agree Marine. I’m pretty sure Justine fighting to win her match is exactly what rattled Kim’s nerves. Justine’s always had a mental edge over her and if she were at the US Open I’m pretty sure Kim would’ve crashed and burned all the same there.

  3. ^ Exactly what I was thinking Marine. She should have given Petrova more credit. But this is the way some champions think. That they are always better than anybody else and when they win, its because they are better than their opponents and when they lose, its because they “let their opponents win”.

    Often, when they lose, they suggest that it was more because of the errors on their part than any exceptional tennis from their opponents, to beat a player of their stature.

    Its seems very impolite to us, but who knows, maybe that kind of attitude is required to be a champion at that level?

  4. Karunya, Serena does this all the time when she plays a sloppy match, and many people claim that that’s the reason they hate her-because “she never gives credit to her opponents”; but when sweet Aussie Kim does it, it’s “how champions think?” That’s crazy. She got beat ’cause she can’t handle the pressure like she always couldn’t. At the US Open she didn’t have pressure and was fresh physically, while everyone else was bruised up and just tired-now that everyone’s expecting her to beat Serena again AND beat Henin she’s crumbling like usual. I can’t believe I bought the hype that she was a new Kim and that womens tennis was gonna be all business this year. Serena better step up and prove to everyone that she truly is the best of her generation.

  5. Petrova took it to Mrs. K.C. and clean her clock. Petrova pounded Kim and bullied her into submission. I never seen Petrova played at this high level. Kim was rattled and did not know what to do with Petrova level of play; also the unforced errors from Kim were a result of Petrova’s high level. Kim did not lose this match as she claims Petrova won it fair and square.

    I never like when a player retires and decides to come back, you get to see the older version of them. Ms. Ella I remember last year talking to you about Kim being fresher and having that as advantage in the USO 09. https://womenstennisblog.com/2009/11/02/sony-ericsson-wta-tour-decrease-in-withdrawals-in-2009/#comments

  6. Ella, actually, when I wrote this sentence, “But this is the way some champions think”, I was thinking of Serena a lot!
    She does almost always says something like that when she loses.

    It is very ungracious and unsportsmanlike to not give credit to your opponent when its due. It is impolite, irrespective of who the player is. (Kim/Serena/Federer)

    Also, I don’t understand why having the Belgians back will bring more money to WTA?

  7. Carlos, I absolutely agree with you that Kim had a huge advantage at the Open, my main point in that post was that the WTA could care less about who has advantage and who doesn’t. They know that having the Belgians back would bring in more $$$, and that’s all that matters to them. My mistake was believing the hype that Kim had become a new Kim, and that she was going to be taking it to Serena/Venus this season, making for more quality matches and not double fault mania. Now that she saw Justine fighting her heart out she got scared (as usual) and forgot how to play tennis. Nadia took it to her and I couldn’t be happier, I’m a huge Nadia fan (when she’s not choking).

    Oh and Carlos, hopefully we’ll see the BEST of Brett Farve tomorrow! 😉

  8. Thanks for the link Ms. Ella I just watched Petrova defeat Kuzzie in three sets. I could only watch the second set-when I click the link the first set was over and I got really hungry, I had to step away from the computer and missed the third set- but the level of play in the second set was pretty good. Why not watch it on ESPN, the coverage started after the first games were over, and they are mainly focusing on the men. Last night the Wozniacki match had the coverage of less than five minutes.

    The game between the Vikings and the Saints can be a fun high scoring game. This two teams can easily set payoff records in scoring. I predict both teams will be scoring in the high forties. The winner will be whomever has the ball last and drives for a winning field goal, well at least I can hope for an exciting game. At the beginning of the season I thought Farve was done, but “The old man” prove me wrong. I’ll give the edge to the Saints only because they have home field advantage. For some strange reason I miss Chad Ocho Cinco, don’t you Ms. Ella? 😛

  9. Karunya, I don’t think real champions think they are always above anyone else out there. Real champions are humble and realistic and most importantly they LET THEIR RACKET DO THE TALKING. Only people who are insecure insight need to run their mouth. And usually this is how it ends: they just bomb out. Look at Justine or Federer. They never underestimated their opponents and I think this is what helped them to stay on top for so long. They do not go for overconfident ramblings, they go for it with the racket in their hand.

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