Clijsters Takes Her Shots

Jennifer Capriati once had an unusual way of describing the top two tennis players from Belgium. She called Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne “the Belgium sisters.” It’s doubtful anyone would do that now.

They were never as close as sisters. But their closeness and mutual respect appear to be getting a rigid test after Henin-Hardenne defeated Clijsters in three sets to win the Acura Classic on Sunday.

Henin-Hardenne did not follow Clijsters north to Carson, but some of the baggage from that match did on the opening day of the JPMorgan Chase Open. It was the debut of the tournament in Carson after it moved from Manhattan Beach, and to say the opening crowd at the Home Depot Center on Monday was disappointing would be an understatement.

About 150 to 200 spectators rattled around during the afternoon in the Stadium Court, which seats 8,000. Tournament director Gus Sampras said about 2,000 tickets were sold for the first day, adding: “I wish it would have been a little bit better of a start. Our big test will be Wednesday when three of our top seeds are playing.”

The top-seeded Clijsters plays that day. But she sat down with reporters, as part of a new WTA Tour initiative, and talked about her pursuit of the No. 1 ranking -- she could reach it by winning here and earning a certain number of bonus points -- as well as the controversial final against Henin-Hardenne, among other things.

Henin-Hardenne took an injury timeout Sunday because of blisters after losing the first set, and Clijsters pointed out afterward that she has made a practice of doing this in their matches. “She said it because she lost the match,” Henin-Hardenne told Reuters.

Clijsters reiterated some of her statements from Sunday, noting it was the full right of her opponent to take an injury timeout. But she flatly denied the other comment from Henin-Hardenne.

“I have absolutely no problem with saying she was the better player, in the second and the third set, she played so much better than I did,” Clijsters said. “I think I’m probably the person who -- I don’t like losing -- but I think I give a lot of credit to my opponents when they win and yesterday I thought Justine played a really good match.”

But she had more to say.

“Sometimes she was like limping after points she lost and the next point she was running all the balls down,” Clijsters said. “Those were like little signs where I thought maybe she was faking it a little bit.”

Henin-Hardenne’s sportsmanship also was called into question by Serena Williams after their French Open semifinal, which Henin-Hardenne won in three sets. There, Henin-Hardenne refused to admit to the chair umpire that she called time when Williams was serving.

Clijsters, who has had her share of injuries over the years, is not known for abusing injury timeouts during a match.

“The first time I ever called a trainer on the court was this year in Berlin. I actually pulled my hamstring,” she said. “You see it in a lot of matches when players pull out when they are down 6-1, 4-0, or 6-2, 3-0. I sort of think it takes the respect out of tennis a little bit when you see those things happening.”

Clijsters is widely respected for her fair-minded approach on the court. It’s clear she gets her toughness from her father, Leo, a former soccer star in Belgium.

“I think tennis is a physical sport, you’ll get injuries and unless you break a leg or something, I don’t see a reason why you should pull out, unless you have the next week, a big tournament, coming up,” she said.

This could end up being the biggest week of her professional career if she reaches No. 1. The media has been asking her about it, and she has sensed a difference from her peers.

“I notice it when I walk into the players’ lounge,” she said. “They sort of support you. It motivates me too in a way.”

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In a night match, Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand beat Mary Pierce of France, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Pierce said she strained a muscle in her side during the warm-up and needed treatment during the second set. Later, qualifier Aranxta Parra of Spain beat wild-card entrant Angela Haynes of Compton, 6-1, 6-4.

Among the other first-day, first-round winners were 16-year-old Maria Sharapova of Russia, who beat Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, 6-3, 6-1, and Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, who defeated Akiko Morigami of Japan, 6-1, 6-1.

“It’s really a great place out here,” Sharapova said. “A big stadium -- just hope more people come out in future days. It’s definitely a great place to play.”

Conchita Martinez of Spain, who is seeded seventh, found the atmosphere suffering in comparison to Carlsbad.

“Everything is in inside,” she said of the player facilities. “La Costa was great, like everything was outside for the players. Here, everything is inside.... I like the daylight.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Featured Matches

Today’s at the JPMorgan Chase Open at the Home Depot Center in Carson:

DAY SESSION

Stadium Court, starting at 10 a.m.

* Barbara Schett, Austria, vs. Amy Frazier

* Tara Snyder, vs. Conchita Martinez, Spain

* Saori Obata, Japan, vs. Ai Sugiyama, Japan

* Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia/Martina Navratilova vs. Tina Krizan, Slovenia/Schett

EVENING SESSION

Stadium Court, starting at 7:30 p.m.

* Maria Sharapova, Russia, vs. Nadia Petrova, Russia

* Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgaria, vs. Elena Likhovtseva, Russia