Classy Clijsters clatters through
Classy Clijsters clatters through
Rip up the rankings. Form is temporary, class is permanent.
While the giggles are gone and the gymnast's genes less
evident, that hooked, looped, whipped, thumped forehand stole the show
at Wimbledon on Wednesday as Kim Clijsters, on her valedictory tour,
barged into the third round.
It was fitting that it should be a shoulder-height
crunched forehand which sealed her passage - the shot creating a sonic
boom amplified by the closed roof on centre court.
Clijsters is bouncing in the basement of the world's
top 50 these days, but come grand slams her quality is at the fore, and
on a drizzly, overcast South-west London evening Andrea Hlavackova was
relegated to bit-part actress as the Clijsters circus rolled on.
Her demeanour has been matured by marriage, motherhood
and the passing years, and it was a muted joy which heralded her 6-3 6-3
victory - a clenched fist and a determined nod rather than a skip and
giggle.
"Yeah, I was very happy with the way everything went
today," the 29-year-old winner of four grand slam titles said.
"I felt it was another step upwards from my first match
against (Jelena) Jankovic. I was really focused once I got out there
and just really tried to be ready from the start."
Clijsters, a former semi-finalist here, has said she
will walk away from tennis after August's U.S. Open, and dominated from
the off on Centre Court.
She is too long in the tooth to get carried away,
however. "I was able to just keep my level up throughout that whole
match," she said flashing a smile, before switching to Flemish.