By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday September 27, 2021
Kim Clijsters made her return to action on the WTA Tour for the first time since the 2020 US Open and just the fourth time since beginning her comeback from a seven year absence in 2020.
The Belgian, a four-time major champion, fell to 0-4 in those matches by losing to Hsieh Su-Wei, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, on Monday at the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic. The loss was a bit of a mixed bag from Clijsters, who raced out to a 3-0 lead before dropping the next eight games of the contest. Full credit to the 38-year-old former World No.1 who rebounded and pushed 35-year-old Hsieh, one of the trickiest talents on tour, until the conclusion of the two hour and 19-minute tussle.
Inconsistent, but Making Progress
The fact that Clijsters was able to make it through the contest without any physical issues is step No.1 for Clijsters.
"The match, some good things and some bad things,” Clijsters said after the match. “Inconsistency but I think for me the most important thing, what I talked with my coach and my trainer about, and my fitness coach, was basically being able to get through these matches without big concerns. That was the main goal.
"I came close today but still have a good feeling - I've made progression. I think that's the most important thing that I am looking at, is that I'm improving overall and that's the positive thing."
Clijsters, who had minor knee surgery last October and also dealt with Covid earlier this year, is just happy to be getting back into playing form.
Though the results haven’t come yet, she says she can feel a lot of elements of her tennis coming together.
"I think just in general, the overall feeling, the way that I've felt in the first matches I played, it's already a long time ago, but I felt like I was definitely anticipating better, maybe not the whole time but I definitely felt like I was doing the things I wanted to do, whereas in the past I was kind of just working my way into the match and trying to be in the right position,” she said.
Making Mistakes Is Okay
Clijsters talked a lot about the fact that there are two types of mistakes, in her opinion. She doesn’t mind if she makes an error because she is too aggressive or goes for too big of a return. What annoys her is the opposite: when she feels she has been too timid about taking charge of a situation in the match.
“I made mistakes where I over hit a lot of the times,” she said. “Those are the mistakes that I'm actually okay with. I'm not okay with the mistakes where I was hesitant, like on the second serve of hers where I'm not really releasing my arm on her second serve and those are the mistakes that I don't like to make. It's not that I like making the other mistakes, but at least I can say that 'I went for that.'"
Clijsters says she would like to play Indian Wells next week, and play as many matches as possible down the stretch in 2021, including this year’s World Team Tennis, which is also to be held at Indian Wells. She believes that the more reps she gets on court against today’s top players, the better she will be able to adapt to tricky situations in matches.
"In general there were moments where I felt really good out there, and I felt like I was moving well and the body held up really good, so that's definitely a big bonus,” she said. “But then also the inconsistency sometimes with the serve here and there, not putting enough first serves in when I need to, putting pressure with the return, there were moments where I was really going for it and then moments where I was making some more mistakes. Obviously that has to improve as I start playing more matches that will start to get better also.
"It's not like I never made mistakes in the past. I'm okay with the mistakes where I felt within myself that I went for the shots. Sometimes the timing can still be off where I over hit it or don't put enough spin on it. But those are mistakes that I can live with, it's the ones where I'm not going for it."
Clijsters will look forward to doubles in Chicago. She’s partnered with veteran Kirsten Flipkens. They will face Magdalena Frech and Katarzyna Kawa of Poland in the first round.