FILDERSTADT, (Germany), Oct 8: Cheered by boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt, Kim Clijsters claimed her first victory over Russia’s Anastasia Myskina in three career meetings Tuesday to reach the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix with a 6-4 6-2 victory.
There were also wins for four-times former champion Martina Hingis, who overcame Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-4 6-2, fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, who beat German wildcard Barbara Rittner 6-4 6-0 and qualifier Alexandra Stevenson who overcame fellow American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3 5-7 6-3 to set up a clash with top seed Jennifer Capriati.
Myskina had beaten sixth seed Clijsters both at Wimbledon two years ago and recently in the semi-finals of the Leipzig event. This time she played a competitive first set, but was completely overwhelmed in the second as the Belgian dominated the rallies by running her round the court and forcing errors.
A year ago the clash between Hingis and Sanchez-Vicario might have been a final, but both have struggled this year.