BERLIN, May 8: World number three Kim Clijsters paid the price for a crowded schedule and a sore shoulder when she lost in three sets to Israel’s Anna Smashnova in her first match at the German Open on Wednesday.

Clijsters, the second seed in the claycourt tournament and world number one Lleyton Hewitt’s girlfriend, survived three match points but Smashnova converted a fourth to seal a 5-7 6-4 7-5 victory in an exciting second-round match.

The Belgian teenager, who had a first-round bye, failed to recapture the form that had inspired her to beat world number one and Wimbledon and U.S. champion Venus Williams in the Hamburg Cup final on Sunday.

Unseeded Smashnova, ranked 35th in the world, fought for nearly three hours on a warm day in the German capital to oust Clijsters, who came back from 5-2 down to take the first set but then accumulated unusual unforced errors.

Fourth-seed Serena Williams had earlier made a smooth start to the tournament with a straightforward 6-3 6-2 win over Austria’s Barbara Schett.

Fifth-seed Justine Henin looked like she might join fellow Belgian Clijsters out when she lost the first set of her match against rising German Martina Mueller but last year’s Wimbledon finalist recovered for a 2-6 6-2 6-3 win.

Holder Amelie Mauresmo cruised through in spectacular fashion. The powerful Frenchwoman, seeded seventh, brushed aside qualifier Cara Black of Zimbabwe 6-4 6-0.—Reuters