Kim Clijsters thrashes opponent to reach Aussie Open 3rd round

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Champion Kim Clijsters and the player she beat in last year's final Li Na rarely got out of first gear while Roger Federer did not even have to get out of bed to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

American eighth seed Mardy Fish, however, became the first men's top-10 player to depart the tournament when he crashed out in straight sets to Colombia's Alejandro Falla 7-6 6-3 7-6.

Temperatures were much more comfortable on Wednesday after the first two days when they reached 30 degrees Celsius before midday, and Clijsters barely built up a sweat on Rod Laver Arena as she thrashed France's Stephanie Foretz Gacon in 47 minutes.

Clijsters, who has recorded four previous 6-0 6-0 'double bagel' victories at Melbourne Park, flirted with a fifth as she rattled off the opening seven games in little under 30 minutes before the 30-year-old Frenchwoman finally held serve.

The stay of execution, however, was brief and the Belgian calmly went through her processes again, building pressure and forcing errors before she moved into the third round with a 6-0 6-1 win when Fortez Gacon's return of serve floated long.

"I felt like in my first match I didn't really have that rhythm that I would have liked to have," Clijsters told reporters. "So that's usually something that I try to look for in the beginning of the match.

"(I) was hitting the ball well (and) felt that I could keep her under pressure. I didn't really let her play her game. From the beginning till the end, I did what I had to do well."

World number three Federer, who had been due to play later on Wednesday received a walkover into the third round when his German opponent Andreas Beck withdrew from the tournament with a back injury.

reuterscanada

This was pretty much a one woman show.  Much more routine and Clijsters-like.  

This pretty much confirms that I was right in my last post when I said that the further she goes, and longer she plays the better she'll get (as she has often done in the past).  

With this performance I am much more convinced that she actually has a shot at defending the title.  

As the Aussie's would say, good on ya Kim!.  Hantuchova is up next that may prove to be a bit more of challenge.  

But enough about that once again the best thing about this match was the post-match interview. 


Or, more precisely Kim asking the entire Aussie crowd to sing her sister a Happy Birthday :).  I'll post the video when it becomes available.

Priceless! :D.  I'm really gonna miss stuff like this when Kim goes away for good after this year.