Kim Clijsters stumbles on comeback after eight years, loses to Garbine Muguruza in Dubai

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By: Sports Desk |

Published: February 18, 2020 10:50:22 am


Kim Clijsters in action. (Source: Twitter)

Four-time Grand Slam-winning Kim Clijsters returned to the professional circuit after nearly eight years competing in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, but she failed to make it past the first round as she lost 6-2, 7-6(6) to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza on Monday.

The 36-year-old Belgian, who has three US Open titles and an Australian Open title, could not match the pace and agility of the 26-year-old Muruguza who hit 19 winners along the way. The former world no. 1, on the other hand, finished with 10 double faults and 23 unforced errors.

But, it was not all doom and gloom for the Belgian as she came up with few flashes of brilliance to keep the Spaniard at bay in the early stages. Known for her superior on-court movement and rallying during her heyday, Clijsters opted to rely on baseline rallies and her powerful forehand to hit winners against her opponent.

“I had a good feeling out there,” she told reporters at the Duty Free Tennis Championships. “I do feel a little bit of, I’m not going to say relief, but a feeling of the pace I can handle.

“I felt like for a while I was dominating some of the points… the way I was able to get back into that second set, with the type of tennis I played, it’s something that is positive. I’ll take that with me for the next matches.”

After being broken in her first serve, it went down crashing for her in the first set as fatigue also took a toll on her. In the second set though, she used her new-found enthusiasm to rise up above her growing tally of double faults and broke Muruguza twice to level at 4-4.

But Muguruza quickly recovered to take the set to a tiebreak and, despite Clijsters’ best efforts to take it to a deciding set, the Spaniard advanced on her second match point.

“It was a special match, she’s back and she’s an incredible player. I was happy to be the one to face her,” ninth seed Muguruza, who reached the Australian Open final earlier this month, said in a post-match interview.

This is Clijsters’ second comeback. She first retired from tennis in 2007, taking a break to have the first of her three children, but returned within 24 months to claim three of her four Grand Slams and return to the top of the rankings in 2011.

Serena Williams, the winner of 23 Grand Slams, tweeted after Clijsters’ second comeback and wrote, “Wow. Just wow.” The rest of the Twitter enjoyed the “feel good about” to the comeback.

(with Reuters inputs)

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