Kim Clijsters loses her first match in 2021 to Hsieh

Kim Clijsters made her way back to tennis courts after a lengthy layoff where she has not played at all in 2021. Clijsters returned to tennis in 2020 initially and while it did not prove to be too successfully Clijsters vowed to continue. She trained well in her own words and she showed a lot of fight in the match. She started off well taking a 3-0 lead striking the ball as cleanly as ever.

However the experienced veteran Hsieh found a way to frustrate her opponent and completely took over the match. She reeled off six straight games to secure the opening set 6-3. The 2nd set was a mad one that featured a lot of ups and downs for both players. Hsieh led 2-0, then it was 2-2, then Clijsters took a break up 4-3 before Hsieh pulled it back 4-4.

Eventually, Clijsters served for the set at 6-5 and faced 15-40 but eventually, she was able to hold on and close it out 7-5. For a moment it seemed like Clijsters could win the match, especially after she had early break points in the 3rd set. Hsieh held on and took a 4-2 lead after that. Clijsters broke back to make it 4-3 but lost her serve once more to make it 3-5.

Eventually, Hsieh closed it out with 6-3 saving two break points in the game as well. A solid effort by Clijsters but serving woes and movement cost her today with Kim clearly needing more matches to improved her game. An encouraging outing nonetheless.