15 Jun 2011

KIM TO MISS WIMBLEDON

JUNE 15 • It has now been officially confirmed: Kim will miss this year's Wimbledon after injuring her ankle again in her 2nd round match of the Unicef Open in Rosmalen/'s Hertogenbosch. Kim will now have to rest for a few weeks and will probably start training again in a month. It goes without saying that Kim is disappointed and would have liked to be able to compete at the All England Club, one of her favourite tournaments and certainly one of her main goals since coming back to tennis.

We will keep you posted if we have got any news.

ROSMALEN • KIM OUT, ANKLE INJURED AGAIN


JUNE 14 • Kim hasn't managed to get past Romina Oprandi in the 2nd round of the Unicef Open in Rosmalen/'s Hertogenbosch. Kim also hurt her ankle again and will undergo some tests tomorrow, to assess the seriousness of the injury...

Romina Oprandi's greatest career win in terms of ranking had been over then No.18 Kaia Kanepi in the first round of Rome in May. The Italian surpassed that significantly with a stunning 7-6(5) 6-3 upset of No.2-ranked and No.1-seeded Kim Clijsters in the second round of theUNICEF Open on Tuesday.

Kim was two points away from taking the first set at 5-4, 30-30 on Oprandi's serve but Oprandi held on and eventually took the set in a tie-break. In the second set she jumped out to a 3-0 lead that she would never relinquish. She said this was the biggest triumph of her career by far.

'I kept fighting and I made some good drop shots and I served pretty well, so that was the key', Oprandi said. 'It's amazing. I can't really believe it because I always looked up to Kim and I still do because she's an amazing player and a really nice person, a real champion.'


Kim appeared to slip and possibly injure her right ankle early in the first set but was able to continue. She originally injured that ankle dancing at a wedding and had to miss most of the clay court season.

'I'm going to have some more tests tonight or tomorrow morning and then I'll be able to give a more specific answer about the situation with my ankle', Kim said. 'I feel like I was hitting the ball very well in practice. I was moving well. I wasn't really worried too much. It's frustrating because something like this with my ankle has to happen, and it kind of puts me back to where I was a few weeks ago. But that's what an athlete has to deal with sometimes.'

13 Jun 2011

ROSMALEN • KIM EDGES INTO 2ND ROUND


JUNE 13 It was not exactly an easy win for Kim, but the No.1 seed managed to get past tricky Romanian player Monica Niculescu in a seesaw 1st round match at the Unicef Open in Rosmalen/'s Hertogenbosch.


Despite winning in straight sets (7-5 7-5), Kim had to work for it, as the Romanian proved to be an expectedly though 1st round opponent. None of both players really managed to take a decisive lead at any stage of the match; however, Kim used her experience to focus a bit more at the very end of each set, allowing herself to make a difference when truly needed.

There were a total of 10 service breaks over the 24 games of the match and Kim finished the victory on her fifth match point.

In the 2nd round, Kim will face the Italian Romina Oprandi. It will be the first meeting between both players. The match will be played tomorrow (Tuesday) around 2.30pm, local time.

11 Jun 2011

ROSMALEN • KIM'S DRAW


JUNE 11 • Kim's grass court season starts next week as she is playing the Unicef Open in Rosmalen/'s Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

The draw has just been revealed and here is what it looks like for Kim:

In the 1st round, Kim will face Romania's Monica NICULESCU.
In the 2nd round, she would play the winner of a match between two qualifiers.
Kim could then meet Maria KIRILENKO or Kimiko DATE-KRUMM in quarters.
Should she go further, Kim could then face Flavia PENNETTA in semis, and WIKCMAYER, CIBULKOVA or KUZNETSOVA in the final.

You can check out the whole draw here.