womenstennisforum.com
Kim Clijsters' first taste of Olympic action lasted little more than an hour as she saw off Italy's Roberta Vinci to reach the second round of the women's singles at Wimbledon.
London 2012 is both a Games debut and swansong for the Belgian, who will retire for the second time after the US Open in September.
She has struggled with injuries this year and was hampered by an abdominal strain at Wimbledon three weeks ago, where she lost in the fourth round to Angelique Kerber.
However, she looked in good form on Saturday, racing through the first set and then edging out Vinci in a closer second to win 6-1, 6-4.
In the second round Clijsters, who has won three grand slam tournaments, could meet Australia's Sam Stosur, the No5 seed, who faces Spain's Carla Suárez Navarro on Saturday afternoon.
Clijsters is relishing the chance to compete at the Games and was very happy with her form against Vinci.
"It's a great feeling knowing that I'm here because there were moments in the last year-and-a-half where I definitely thought about retiring and not even getting to the Olympics," he said.
"So I'm happy that I stuck with it and that I kept working hard. I'm happy that I'm healthy and that I got to play a good match in the first round.
"I still feel that whenever I step out on court and I feel good physically, if I play good tennis, I can beat a lot of good players. With that attitude, I'll go until I play my last match. That's a good attitude. It's something that I need to have."
theguardian.co.uk
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