Tennis roundup
Clijsters wins comeback match over Kostanic ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) – Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters beat Jelena Kostanic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 in the Diamond Games on Tuesday in her first match in four months.
Clijsters said the left wrist injury that sidelined her in 2004 did not bother her as she opened the defense of her hometown title.
“So far, so good,” Clijsters told the crowd of more than 10,000. “I had good backhands, not always perfect ones, but that is to be expected at this point. I hope all will go better now.”
The Belgian star expects a tougher match against fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova on Wednesday.
Mary Pierce, a two-time major champion, beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1 and will face top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo for the second straight week. In last week’s Open Gaz de France, Mauresmo beat Pierce in straight sets in the second round.
In other first-round matches, Camille Pin of France defeated Marta Marrero of Spain 6-1, 6-2, Virginie Razzano of France downed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia-Montenegro 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia beat Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Nalbandian upset; Henman advances
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) – Fourth-seeded David Nalbandian was upset by Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the first round of the ABN Amro tournament Tuesday, then complained he couldn’t follow the ball on the red indoor court.
Eighth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain lost 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Olivier Rochus of Belgium. Rochus also won three tiebreakers in qualifying for the event.
Also, No. 3 Tim Henman defeated Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 7-5, 6-4. Henman, who skipped the Marseille tournament last week because of back pains, set up a second-round match against Michael Llodra of France, who defeated Dutch wild card Peter Wessels 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2.
Mario Ancic of Croatia eliminated Taylor Dent of the United States 7-6 (5), 7-5 and meets Rochus next.
Top-ranked Roger Federer plays his opening match Wednesday against Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic.