TennisKim Clijsters (unranked) will face Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei (WTA-93), Elise Mertens’ doubles partner, in the first round of the WTA Championships in Chicago (Illinois) this week. This will be the first meeting between Clijsters, 38, and Hsieh, 35.
This will be Clijsters’ fourth match since her comeback in February 2020. The previous match is over a year ago. At the 2020 US Open, she lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round to Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (WTA-34). She had previously lost in Dubai 6-2 7-6 (8/6) to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza (WTA-9) and in Muterre 6-3 7-5 to Britain’s Joanna Konta (WTA-81). If Clijsters can overcome Hsieh, she will face Tunisia’s Anas Jabeur (WTA-17) in the second round (Final 1/16), where she will face the sixth seed Freestyle in the first round.
For seventh seed Elise Mertens (WTA-18), the tournament also begins in the second round only. In it she meets the French Alizé Cornet (WTA-69) or the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (WTA-53). Clijsters and Flipkins could only meet in the final.
Kirsten Flipkens (WTA-137) is also trying to qualify for the hard court tournament, which is worth $565,530. The 35-year-old Kempensee hit American Madison Beckham’s scale in the first round of qualifying with two goals 6-0 on Saturday (without standings). For Flipkens, it was the first match since the WTA in Miami, at the end of March. Due to an ankle injury, she missed the Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Olympics and US Open.
Unlimited free access to Showbytes? And that can!
Log in or create an account and never miss any of the stars.
“Subtly charming internet specialist. Avid writer. Friendly alcohol guru. Music ninja. Devoted social media fanatic.”
More Stories
Subscribe! Cristiano Ronaldo is now also breaking a world record with… a brand new YouTube channel
Even email or phone calls are banned, but how can Formula 1 check that teams are not working on cars during the summer break?
Robert Stannard explains for the first time about his long doping ban, just before his comeback