Clijsters makes no excuses after stunning loss
PARIS — There were plenty of excuses available for Kim Clijsters after a stunning collapse in the second round of the French Open against a woman ranked 114th.
In assessing her 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands on Thursday, the second-seeded Clijsters could have pointed to her heavily taped right ankle, which she hurt while dancing barefoot at her cousin’s wedding last month.
In recounting how she managed to waste 2 match points and drop 11 of the last 12 games after leading 5-2 in the second set, the Belgian could have mentioned that she last entered the French Open in 2006, and had played a total of five clay-court matches anywhere since.
And in explaining her 65 unforced errors — 43 more than her opponent made — and 10 double-faults, Clijsters could have reminded everyone that she hadn’t competed at all since late March because of that bum ankle and previous injuries to her right shoulder and wrist.
Instead, the winner of the last two Grand Slam titles, and four overall, pointed a finger squarely at herself and an odd crisis of confidence.
“I started doubting a little bit,” said Clijsters, the French Open runner-up in 2001 and 2003. “When you start doubting yourself on any surface — but for me, definitely on clay — it’s the wrong attitude to have.”
A similar scenario played out later in that stadium Thursday, except it was the heavy favorite, three-time major champion Maria Sharapova, who appeared to be down and out against an inexperienced kid, 17-year-old French wild-card entry Caroline Garcia, before reeling off the final 11 games to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
“Look,” the seventh-seeded Sharapova said, “it could have easily gone the other way.”
She said she had trouble dealing with wind that gusted at upward of 20 mph, making the balls move unexpectedly at times and occasionally kicking up clouds of loose clay into players’ eyes.
The five-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal wasn’t forced to work nearly as hard as he did in getting past John Isner in five sets Tuesday, but Nadal was hardly satisfied after beating 48th-ranked Pablo Andujar of Spain 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
“I am not playing that well,” said Nadal, who has spent 7 hours, 19 minutes on court. “I am not happy, but I am here.”
Also reaching the third round were past Grand Slam finalists Robin Soderling and Andy Murray, along with No. 10 Mardy Fish, the last U.S. man in the field.
Six seeded men lost: No. 8 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, No. 20 Florian Mayer of Germany, No. 24 Sam Querrey of the U.S., No. 27 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, No. 28 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and No. 32 Kevin Anderson of South Africa.