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THE
SCOOP: TUESDAY, MAY 28
Clijsters, Seles survive close
calls
Kafelnikov inspired to succeed in Paris
By
Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
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Fred
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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FROM ROLAND GARROS –
The weather set the tone on the second
day of Roland Garros as some heavyweight players struggled through
rain, wind, cold and feisty opponents to finish matches. Among the
names that survived serious first-round scares were fourth-seeded
Kim Clijsters of Belgium and sixth-seeded Monica Seles of the U.S.
Clijsters was dogged throughout
her two-hour, 14-minute match before recording a 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 win
over Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus. When Poutchek, who is coached
by Natasha Zvereva’s father, finally bailed out of the match
with a backhand return of serve into the net, Clijsters let loose
with one of the biggest shrugs of relief this side of the Atlantic
Ocean.
Still clawing to make a stand
in the match while ahead 2-1 in the third set, Clijsters said, “I
was thinking, ‘You can only get better. You’re playing
your worst tennis, you can only play better.’ I was still leading.”
Clijsters is certainly under
the magnifying glass here after reaching her first career Grand
Slam final at Roland Garros last year, eventually coming up short
in a 12-10 final set to Jennifer Captiati.
The Belgian is the first to
say she arrives in Paris this week without the benefit of being
in prime physical form due to a shoulder injury that’s plagued
her all season long. When asked if she is in tip-top shape, Clijsters
said, “No, definitely not. My injury is something that I can’t
control. Like I don’t know how it’s going to pull up tomorrow.
That can be a bit of a pain sometimes, as well. Especially with
matches like today, there’s a lot of wind, rain. It’s
a lot tougher for my shoulder and for my arm to keep everything
under control and to recover quicker.”
Persistent shoulder problem
or not, Clijsters is going to have to tighten up her form if she’s
going to survive to the latter rounds here in Paris. She certainly
can’t afford to keep playing sloppy tennis as she did against
Poutchek, coming up with 93 unforced errors and offering an opponent
15 break point opportunities.
MONICA STARTS SLOW
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Fred
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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As for Seles, who has been
anything but confident with her game the past few months, it was
only her gritty determination that saw her past a 5-0 deficit in
the first set to take a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0 win over Spaniard Angeles
Montolio.
“This year I’ve
been struggling with a few things – my game and injury-wise
– I had some tough matches the last couple months,” Seles
said. “Today, too, I was lucky the rain came and I got the
trainer to help me out because I was in trouble there.”
Kafelnikov inspired to succeed
in Paris
Taking a look at 1996 French
Open champ Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s clay court season and one can’t
help to grimace in dismay. Following a quarterfinal result at Monte
Carlo, the Russian ticked off two lackluster first-round losses
at Munich and Rome.
Kafelnikov is one of these guys that has been talking the possibility
of retirement for years and suggests that if his chase of a Davis
Cup title sees the light of day in 2002, he could definitely be
hanging up his rackets in 2003. The problem with the “K”
man is he really has to feel a challenge and desire to perform to
the standard he’s capable of doing. The truth is that the smaller
events like Munich and Rome just don’t float his boat, but
he attempts to come alive for the big occasions like Roland Garros.
“You know, this tournament,
no exception, brings out the best in me,” said Kafelnikov,
after securing a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win over Thomas Behrend
in a match that was suspended for rain on Monday evening. “Obviously,
my form is not as good as I wanted to have it (for here). I’ve
proved in the past that no matter how I played before, I always
seem to turn things around. Hopefully, it’s going to happen
again this year where I come into the tournament with no matches
at all. … I always come motivated no matter how I play.”
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