Alisa Kleybanova Makes A Splash

By Adrianna Outlaw

(November 9, 2010) Alisa Kleybanova was four years old when she first hit the water and the court. Swimming and tennis have been two of Kleybanova's passions since childhood and she credits her water strokes with her tennis success.

"Those two sports I loved the most and I did them for many years before I decided to go for tennis," Kleybanova says. "I think (swimming) was a big advantage for me when I was playing tournaments as a kid because I was physically a lot stronger than the others."

The 21-year-old Russian, one of only three women to beat US Open champion Kim Clijsters on hard court this season (Nadia Petrova and Vera Zvonareva are the others), chose tennis over swimming partly because of the power of self-expression.

"At About 11 or 12 years old I started playing tournaments and I started winning," Kleybanova said. "I like it more on the court because I can express myself. I can still do it in the water, but I like tennis much more."

Check out this video view of Kleybanova in the pool:

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Alisa Kleybanova Makes A Splash

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