Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis began their pursuits of the 2007 Australian Open title in fine style, with both players quickly rolling past their opening round opponents.
Sixth seed Martina Hingis needed just fifty-three minutes to cruise past France’s Nathalie Dechy.
Dechy’s slump at majors continued today, and she failed to even win one game in the first set, which lasted just nineteen minutes. The second set saw Dechy step up the level of her game a little, but not nearly enough to keep Hingis from dictating the shots and holding serve for an easy 6-0, 6-2 victory.
While Martina was crushing Dechy on Vodafone Arena, over on Rod Laver Arena Kim Clijsters was holding court in much the same fashion over Vasilisa Bardina with a double-bagel win.
Russia’s rising teen, Vasilisa Bardina, reached the final of last week’s Moorilla Hobart International, but whatever confidence she brought into the match was quickly squelched by Clijsters’ dominant play.
The 2005 US Open champion has announced that this will be her final Australian Open, and if she continues to move through the draw with solid wins like this 6-0, 6-0 one, she will clearly be one of the top favorites heading into the second week of action at Melbourne Park.
I had a feeling Dechy wouldn’t pose too much of a problem for Hingis. Just a hunch. ;)
If Kim is still serving up double bagels in the early rounds of Grand Slams, she shouldn’t retire now. Especially if she’s planning on starting that family immediately after retirement– that’ll only ruin any future Hingis-like “comebacks” on her part.
I think the main reason why Kim’s retiring is not just her marriage and the desire to have a family, but the fact that she’s sick and tired of getting injured. Even before Brian Lynch popped the question, I still had the feeling that Kim had no intention of spending the next six or seven years of her life on the Tour.
Her game is so physical, and her body’s not exactly built to weather the pounding and sliding that she puts herself through.
That last big injury to her wrist (the one that cost her the US Open defense) probably scared her into believing that if she does not quit soon, she may not get to live a “normal”, injury-free life after tennis.
I read somewhere the other day that she even was contemplating retiring last season, but decided to see if she could make one more comeback.
OK, Kim’s match was terrible. It was over so quick. And what was the other chick wearing???