Wrist. Knee. Shoulder. They're all working fine for Kim Clijsters at the French Open -- so far. The two-time French Open runner-up had considered pulling out of the tournament because of an injury to her right knee, the latest in a long list of problems that have plagued the Belgian.
But the knee was heavily wrapped and gave her no apparent problem in her first-round 6-1, 6-0 win over American qualifier Meilen Tu on Monday.
| |||||||||||
The 21-year old spent most of 2004 on the sidelines with a wrist injury. She returned to win back-to-back hard court titles in the United States, only to twist her knee in Berlin earlier this month.
The demands of clay-court tennis, which requires longer rallies, don't make the comeback easy, especially when the taped knee restricts her ability to bend.
But, as Clijsters noted, she entered the 2003 tournament with a foot injury and made it all the way to the final.
"I hope," she said, "that history repeats itself here."
----
Instant replay
Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport has concerns about the US Open's plans to use instant replay.
"Players have to know that it's 100 percent accurate," Davenport said after advancing to the second round of the French Open.
"If they can promise the players that, then that would be nice," the three-time Grand Slam champion said. "But I don't know if they're going to be able to do that."
The USTA hopes to implement a system for electric line calling-aids for umpires at this year's US Open. But the word from USTA officials is that trials of the system have not gone well, Davenport said, and another test is planned in July.
Other players have spoken out in favor of the system, notably Serena Williams, who lost to Jennifer Capriati at last year's US Open after several officiating errors.
Davenport said she's divided over whether players should have the right to make unlimited challenges on line calls, since some might abuse such a system. But she also said a player should be able to challenge bad calls until the end.
Williams, who skipped the French Open because of a bad ankle, has said she thinks players should not be allowed to challenge every call.
Davenport got off to a slow start in her first-round match but steadied her strokes to beat Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that Davenport has not won.
----
Spirit of the games
Paris hopes its bid to host the 2012 Olympics will get some mileage from the French Open.
Center court is ringed with "Paris 2012" banners as part of a plan to create an "Olympic atmosphere" at the tournament, bid organisers said.
The timing of the French Open couldn't be better for promoting the French capital's Olympic aspirations, with a decision expected on July 6. Other cities vying to host the Summer Games are New York, London, Moscow and Madrid.
The Roland Garros complex would be used to host Olympic tennis matches, and plans are underway to build a 15,000-seat domed arena across the road to host judo and badminton. After the games, the dome would become an extension of the tennis complex.
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, also president of the Olympic bid committee, has been asked to attend the award ceremonies for the French Open finals.
The widely watched men's final on June 5 will coincide with an Olympic pep rally called, "Let's Celebrate the Love of the Games" on Paris' best-known boulevard, the Champs-Elysees.
More from rediff