Kim Clijsters bid for scoring a win over Konta hits a few snags

     Belgium's Kim Clijsters carries a heavy tennis champion resume of 41 singles and 11 doubles titles as well as 4 Grand Slam championships. The last time she stepped on the court in a competition was in 2012. She was defeated by 18-year-old Laura Robson of Great Britain in a straight two set tiebreaks at the U.S. Open's second round. Clijsters was then 29 years old. She had said of her performance that "It's the place that has inspired me so much to do well and to do great things...feels like the perfect place to retire..." She did without much doubt and decided her passion was still there and returned eight years later.

     Much fanfare was made of her comeback and it was very uplifting. She played against Garbine Muguruza t the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on February 17th and had many great shot making performances with in the game but fell in straight sets 6-2, 7-6. "My timing, my footing, I kept looking for it...A few times it was there and it would be off a few points. But at times I felt like I was close...awhile I was dominating some of the points. It's a good feeling to have..." the Belgian had said of her game with Muguruza. The Spaniard felt at times Clijsters might have been a challenge with herself having already accumulated 7 singles titles and 2 Grand Slams. "A player that can play incredible can play incredible again", Muguruza had proclaimed and this may be so true. Clijsters was just getting her feet wet with this first comeback and felt encouraged to go on as she received again a wildcard for her next tournament. 

     "As a young fan I never though I'd play Kim Clijsters...she's an amazing ball-striker," Johanna Konta had said after she was paired with Clijsters a few days ago on March 3rd in Monterrey, Mexico. It was the Abierto GNP Seguros tournament where Konta was just making her comeback since the 2019 U.S. Open after falling to injuries. There were times when the Belgian would have great strokes and strategies to kind of get Konta flustered a bit but the first set was Konta's as she won 6-3. She started feeling a bit encouraged now to keep with her game plan in the second set to be consistent and go for a win.

     The second set with Konta's lead of 4-3, Clijsters would blast a corner shot to the lady Brit leaving her stumbling and routinely did it a second time nearly the same place on the corner of the court. But htere were many unforced errors that sprinkled the Belgian's game and Konta's aggression for cross courts, drop shots and down the lines helped to dictate her stance on winning the set and the match at 6-3, 7-5.

     There were close times that if Kim Clijsters could have been more consistent she would indeed be a threat to Johanna Konta. It might come soon, but the WTA women are tough and some so much younger than Clijsters. The Belgian's game would have to be more deviously mixed, possibly faster and aggressive to get the big win again on the competitive tennis stage.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2POgiN6