The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Nadal’s knees survive first test

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Nadal’s knees survive first test

TENNIS / Kim Clijsters shows no signs of rust as she makes a winning return

— Photo: AFP

SHE’S BACK! Former World No.1 Kim Clijsters returned to competitive play after a two-year hiatus by easily dispatching Marion Bartoli in the first round of the Cincinnati Open on Monday.

MONTREAL: Rafael Nadal’s tender knees passed their first test when the Spaniard returned to action on Monday in a doubles win at the Montreal Masters.

Sidelined for more than two months with tendonitis in both knees, Nadal looked fighting fit as he teamed up with coach Francisco Roig to beat Serbian duo Novak Djokovic and Dusan Vemic 7-5, 6-4.

“It’s great to be back and I had a lot of fun playing with Francisco,” Nadal told reporters. “A win is a win and doubles is fun and important so I am happy about the way it went today.”

Meanwhile at the WTA Cincinnati Open, former World No.1 Kim Clijsters made a triumphant return to tennis on Monday, defeating France’s Marion Bartoli in straight sets in her first match in more than two years.

Clijsters, who retired in May of 2007 and gave birth to a daughter in February of 2008, defeated 12th-seeded Bartoli 6-4, 6-3.

Clijsters showed no sign of rust as she raced to a 4-0 lead, displaying a solid serve as well as the canny ground game that was her trademark. The Belgian put away an opening set in which she notched 14 winners to Bartoli’s two.

In the second set, Clijsters fended off a break point in the fifth game to hold for a 4-1 lead, and she fought back from 0-40 down to serve out the match.

The results:

At Montreal (ATP Montreal Masters): First round: Igor Andreev bt Dmitry Tursunov 5-5, retd.; Rainer Schuettler bt Florent Serra 6-4, 6-0; Mihail Youzhny bt Marin Cilic 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1.

Paul-Henri Mathieu bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 0-6, 6-1; Jeremy Chardy bt Lu Yen-Hsun 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4; Stan Wawrinka bt Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-1.

Gael Monfils bt Marat Safin 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; Gilles Simon bt Frank Dancevic 6-1, 6-2; Leonardo Mayer bt Mischa Zverev 7-6(6), 6-3.

At Cincinnati (WTA Cincinnati Open): First round: Lucie Safarova bt Iveta Benesova 6-3, 7-6(9); Anna-Lena Groenefeld bt Virginie Razzano 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka bt Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 7-6(2).

Patty Schnyder bt Gisela Dulko 6-4, 6-0; Aleksandra Wozniak bt Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3; Melinda Czink bt Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-2.

Ana Ivanovic bt Melanie Oudin 2-6, 6-1, 6-1; Anna Chakvetadze bt Elena Vesnina 7-5, 6-3; Kim Clijsters bt Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-3. — Agencies

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport