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Belgium tennis ace Kim Clijsters - Source: Reuters -
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Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova charged into the third
round of the Australian Open on Wednesday as the first grand slam
of the year started to heat up.
Clijsters was given a solid workout from Thailand's Tamarine
Tanasugarn but was able to raise her game whenever she needed to in
a fairly routine 6-3 6-3 victory.
Kuznetsova also overcame a couple of minor hiccups with her serve
to beat fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-2 and remain
on course for a tantalising fourth-round meeting with
Clijsters.
"I feel like I'm good enough on the day to beat my opponents,"
Clijsters told reporters. "It's not my best tennis yet, but
hopefully I can save that when it's really necessary."
Clijsters' next opponent is Russian Nadia Petrova while Kuznetsova
faces Germany's Angelique Kerber.
"I just get extra motivation when I play slams," said Kuznetsova,
who won last year's French Open. "This is for real. This is for
what you play for."
The return of Clijsters and fellow Belgian Justine Henin has
helped make this championship one of the most open in
decades.
Lopsided draw
Despite winning last year's US Open shortly after making her
comeback, Clijsters is only ranked 15th in the world while Henin,
who made her comeback this month, needed a wildcard to get into the
event.
As the seedings are decided on current rankings, the draw appears
lopsided with some of the leading contenders likely to face each
other much earlier than usual.
Clijsters, Kuznetsova, Henin, Elena Dementieva and Yanina
Wickmayer are all in the same quarter of the draw with Henin and
Dementieva meeting in the second round on Tuesday
evening.
Caroline Wozniacki made a belated start to her campaign at
Melbourne Park, defeating Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak in a
first-round match that was shuffled back because of rain on the
opening day.
The Dane, who was runner-up to Clijsters in New York last year,
plays Germany's Julia Goerges next.
In the men's draw, American Andy Roddick sailed through to the
third round after a comfortable 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over Brazilian
Thomaz Bellucci.
Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, the 2007 Australian Open finalist, also
cruised through after beating Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-3 6-4
7-5.
New Zealand's Marina Erakovic lost to China's Li Na in straight sets.
