tennisIlove09
Sep 28th, 2004, 07:07 PM
Clijsters Set To Return Tomorrow
http://www.sportsmediainc.net/tennisweek/CLIJSTERSwimFMullane.jpg
Photo By Fred Mullane By Adrianna Outlaw
09/28/2004
Kim Clijsters won't have to travel too far to launch her long-awaited comeback to tournament tennis tomorrow. The seventh-ranked Belgian will play her first match in five months when she meets Iveta Benesova in the second-round of the Gaz de France Stars in Hasselt, Belgium near her hometown of Bree.
The former No. 1, who is seeded second behind U.S. Open and Roland Garros runner-up Elena Dementieva, has been training two to three hours per day in preparation for her return.
"In the past few days, I trained a lot," said Clijsters in a statement posted on her official web site Kim Clijsters.com (http://www.kimclijsters.com/). "Even though the backhand is still a bit stiff, I have a good feeling. And I am very eager to finally play again, in competition. Especially in my own country."
The Australian Open finalist pulled out of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open after developing a cyst on her left wrist. Clijsters underwent surgery to remove the cyst from her wrist on June 12th at Wilrijk hospital near Antwerp, Belgium.
Her surgically-repaired left wrist lacks its former flexibility and Clijsters reports her two-handed backhand is still a bit stiff though her serve and forehand feel fine.
"I am pretty tired," Clijsters said. "I don't manage to control the backhand completely because it is a bit stiff still," she wrote. "The wrist itself is even less flexible, even after an extended warm up. ... My service and forehand are OK."
The 21-year-old Clijsters initially sustained a torn tendon in her left wrist during the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells in March. The injury forced the defending champion to pull out of Indian Wells. Clijsters, who competed in Belgium's Fed Cup tie in April, has played just one WTA Tour match since her injury, scoring a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Spanish qualifier Marta Marrero in the second round of the Ladies German Open while sporting a six-inch brace on her left wrist. The day after her May 6th win over Marrero, Clijsters was forced to withdraw from the Berlin event with a recurrence of the wrist pain.
While her on-court activity has been limited, Clijsters has kept busy off the court with preparations for her February wedding to former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in Australia. The wedding ceremony will be followed by a celebration for family and close friends at a Belgian chateau.
When they do tie the knot, the pair will share plenty of closet space as they plan to maintain homes in both Hewitt's hometown of Adelaide in Bree, Belgium where Clijsters owns a house.
"I've always been in Australia at the end of the year so that might be our base, but I've got a house here in Belgium as well and that's where we're at now and so both," Clijsters said. "For me Belgium that's still my home and when I got to Australia it still seems like a big holiday every time I go there. I don't know how we're going to divide everything, but we'll just wait and see I guess."
http://www.sportsmediainc.net/tennisweek/CLIJSTERSwimFMullane.jpg
Photo By Fred Mullane By Adrianna Outlaw
09/28/2004
Kim Clijsters won't have to travel too far to launch her long-awaited comeback to tournament tennis tomorrow. The seventh-ranked Belgian will play her first match in five months when she meets Iveta Benesova in the second-round of the Gaz de France Stars in Hasselt, Belgium near her hometown of Bree.
The former No. 1, who is seeded second behind U.S. Open and Roland Garros runner-up Elena Dementieva, has been training two to three hours per day in preparation for her return.
"In the past few days, I trained a lot," said Clijsters in a statement posted on her official web site Kim Clijsters.com (http://www.kimclijsters.com/). "Even though the backhand is still a bit stiff, I have a good feeling. And I am very eager to finally play again, in competition. Especially in my own country."
The Australian Open finalist pulled out of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open after developing a cyst on her left wrist. Clijsters underwent surgery to remove the cyst from her wrist on June 12th at Wilrijk hospital near Antwerp, Belgium.
Her surgically-repaired left wrist lacks its former flexibility and Clijsters reports her two-handed backhand is still a bit stiff though her serve and forehand feel fine.
"I am pretty tired," Clijsters said. "I don't manage to control the backhand completely because it is a bit stiff still," she wrote. "The wrist itself is even less flexible, even after an extended warm up. ... My service and forehand are OK."
The 21-year-old Clijsters initially sustained a torn tendon in her left wrist during the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells in March. The injury forced the defending champion to pull out of Indian Wells. Clijsters, who competed in Belgium's Fed Cup tie in April, has played just one WTA Tour match since her injury, scoring a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Spanish qualifier Marta Marrero in the second round of the Ladies German Open while sporting a six-inch brace on her left wrist. The day after her May 6th win over Marrero, Clijsters was forced to withdraw from the Berlin event with a recurrence of the wrist pain.
While her on-court activity has been limited, Clijsters has kept busy off the court with preparations for her February wedding to former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in Australia. The wedding ceremony will be followed by a celebration for family and close friends at a Belgian chateau.
When they do tie the knot, the pair will share plenty of closet space as they plan to maintain homes in both Hewitt's hometown of Adelaide in Bree, Belgium where Clijsters owns a house.
"I've always been in Australia at the end of the year so that might be our base, but I've got a house here in Belgium as well and that's where we're at now and so both," Clijsters said. "For me Belgium that's still my home and when I got to Australia it still seems like a big holiday every time I go there. I don't know how we're going to divide everything, but we'll just wait and see I guess."