The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Clijsters advances

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 11, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Clijsters advances

INDIAN WELLS, MARCH 10. Kim Clijsters moved into the second round of the Pacific Life Open with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Nicole Pratt on Wednesday.

Clijsters, a former No. 1 player, competed in just her fourth match in the last nine months since returning from two wrist surgeries.

She had little trouble with Pratt, an Australian ranked No. 91, needing just 50 minutes to win the match.

From 2-2 in the opening set, Clijsters lost just six points in winning the final four games. She took a 2-0 lead in the second set and broke Pratt's serve three times.

Clijsters, whose ranking fell to No. 133 during her absence, will face 16th-seeded Shinobu Asagoe of Japan in the second round.

Laura Granville, Maria Kirilenko, Abigail Spears, Marta Domachowska, Severne Beltrame, Eva Birnerova, Yuliana Fedak, Tatiana Garbin and Silvija Talaja were other first-round winners on Wednesday.

Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo, Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva are the top four seeds in the 96-player field.

The results (first round): Kim Clijsters bt Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-1; Silvija Talaja bt Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-0; Abigail Spears bt Lubomira Kurhajcova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(0); Maria Kirilenko bt Tatiana Perebiynis 6-0, 6-1; Tathiana Garbin bt Aniko Kapros 6-1, 6-2; Eva Birnerova bt Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4, 6-2; Marta Domachowska bt Maria Emilia Salerni 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Laura Granville bt Marissa Irvin 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Severine Beltrame bt Denisa Chladkova 6-2, 7-6(1); Yuliana Fedak bt Virginie Razzano 6-3, 6-0; Jamea Jackson bt Anca Barna 7-6(4), 6-4; Nuria Llagostera Vives bt Camille Pin 6-4, 6-0; Dally Randriantefy bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 7-6(6), 6-1; Anna Chakvetadze bt Martina Sucha 6-0, 7-5; Rika Fujiwara bt Alina Jidkova 6-3, 6-3; Mariana Diaz-Oliva bt Kristina Brandi 6-4, 6-2. — AP

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