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Clijsters calls it a day

Rob Keating — Thu, 10 May 2007 02:23:48 +0000

After struggling with injuries and lack of motivation Kim Clijsters announced her retirement effective immediately on May 6, 2007. This came following a loss in the first round of the J&S Cup in Warsaw where she lost to Julia Vakulenko 7-6, 6-3.

For me I remember Kim as “Aussie” Kim following her time with Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt. As Australian adopted her as one of our own I followed her career with interest. Some saw her as a choker as she seemed several times to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

In the end she went on to prove critics wrong by not only winning a Grand Slam title at the 2005 US Open but also claiming the no. 1 ranking. Kim will go down in the record books as a title winner at 34 events. Most recently in Sydney taking the 2007 title. As a player she will be remembered as one of the most popular female players to take the court. She was loved by tennis fans around the world.

Farewell to Princess Fiona…I mean Kim. All the best in your new life.

How does Serena do it?

Rob Keating — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 02:35:50 +0000

Serena Williams has defeated Justine Henin to claim the Sony Ericcson singles title in Miami. After getting hammered in the first set Williams was able to turn the match around to win 0-6, 7-5, 6-3. Williams was down two match points in the second set before going on to win the match. It shows if you have talent you do not need regular tournament play to win the big tournaments. Williams was playing in her first tournament since winning at the Australian Open earlier this year.

The Miami tournament had many upsets along the way thus making for an interesting tournament. We are now moving closer to the next Grand Slam tournament which is the French Open. It will be interesting to see if Williams can take the next step in claiming the Grand Slam. I think she may need a bit more time on clay in the lead up to the tournament to have any chance.

Hingis wins fifth Tokyo title

Rob Keating — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 12:16:27 +0000

Martina Hingis has shown she can still win tournaments by claiming the tier I event in Tokyo today. Hingis downed Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2 to win a record fifth Toray Pan Pacific Open title. Hingis had met Ivanovic in a final last year in Montreal where Ivanovic was victorious. Hingis had extracted revenge in the semi-final on the person she lost last year’s championship decider against. Yesterday she had a comfortable win against Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-3.

Hingis seems to really like the Tokyo event having won the title fives times and been runnerup on three occasions. It must be the food. The Tokyo title is the third tournament win for Hingis since she made her fulltime return to the tour in 2006. Hingis captured the tier I title in Rome and also the Kolkata title in India. Hingis has now won 43 career singles titles.

Next week the women’s tour moves to France and Thailand. The main tournament is the Tier II event in Paris while a Tier IV event is going to be contested in Pattaya City, Thailand. The Paris event marks the return to tennis for recent world no. 1 player Justine Henin. It will be interesting to see how she is hitting the tennis ball after her recent break from tournament play.