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Nadia Petrova Pounds Clijsters
(January 22, 2010) Nadia Petrova carried a lot of memories into her third round match with Kim Clijsters and none of them were all that pleasant.
Winless in four prior meetings with the two-time US Open champion, Petrova had managed to win just one of the prior nine sets the pair had played.
That past history was one long litany of loss, but on Friday Petrova experienced the most profound loss of all — she lost her losing streak.
Petrova pounded Clijsters, 6-0, 6-1, in handing the 15th-seeded Belgian her worst Australian Open thrashing since her Melbourne debut 10 years ago.
The 19th-seeded Petrova admitted she was surprised by the ease of her win, given her lack of success against Clijsters and the fact she lost in the opening round in both of her Oz Open tune-up tournaments, bowing to Justine Henin in Brisbane and falling to qualifier Kimiko Date-Krumm at Sydney.
"Of course not," Petrova said when asked if she felt it would be such a routine match. "I was preparing myself already a long day, a long match. Might have been a three-setter. Just really wanted to give everything I could today. (I'm) very happy."
It was a shocking setback for Clijsters, who had reached the Oz Open semifinals in her last five appearances. She had won two of the five tournaments she played since launching her return to professional tennis last summer. Clijsters arrived in Melbourne in fine form after saving match points to edge compatriot Henin in the Brisbane final.
Photo Credit: Natasha Peterson
But Petrova's aggressive attack combined with Clijsters erratic play added up to one of the most lopsided losses of her Grand Slam career.
Clijsters, who was once engaged to Australian No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, is still embraced as "Aussie Kim" by fans and media in Melbourne and the pro-Clijsters crowd was prepared to exhort her from the start. But Petrova silenced both Clijsters and the crowd with a dominant display in racing through the opening set in a mere 18 minutes.
"She was good. But, you know, I let her," Clijsters said. "I made all the mistakes and she didn't really have to do much. She served really well and was aggressive in the rallies, but that's because I let her play into the courts ... I wasn't feeling the ball well. It sucks."
The loss spoils the prospect of a highly-anticipated all-Belgian quarterfinal between Clijsters and Henin, who fought back from a one-set, 1-3 deficit to defeat 27th-seeded Russian Alisa Kleybanova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
"Like I said, it sucks that it has to happen at this stage of this tournament at least," Clijsters said. "If it happens in another tournament, then you can say, 'Okay, you know, it's not a big deal, just keep working hard.' Matches like this, maybe it happens once a year where you feel like this. But you don't want it to happen more than this because then, you know, it's not a coincidence. I think I haven't changed anything in my whole preparations before every match. Everything was the same, same routine, then something like this happens. That's probably the most frustrating thing about it, is not knowing."
The Petrova serve was the key stroke in the match. The 27-year-old Moscow native hit five aces, won 22 of 24 points played on her first serve and erased the only break point she faced.
"I played very well. I didn't give her chance for her to start playing her game," Petrova said. "I really put pressure from the first point. I stayed close to the line. I was really observing her pace. Also, you know, coming up with the big shots. I made (it) very difficult for her. She had to come up with something unbelievable. I bet, you know, it was tough out there."
A potent Petrova powered into the round of 16 for the fifth time at the tournament and will take on third-seeded compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, who overcame a one-set deficit and 43 unforced errors to subdue Angelique Kerber, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Kuznetsova has beaten Petrova in five of their six meetings.
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