Hingis, Clijsters on Collision Course

Martina Hingis (ranked seventh in the world, Switzerland) and Kim Clijsters (ranked fifth, Belgium), two tennis stars who share many traits in common, both have advanced to the third round of the Australian Open.

On January 18, in the second round of women’s singles at Australian Open, the season’s first major tournament, three-time champion Hingis easily won a 2-0 (6-2, 6-2) victory over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva (134th). The Swiss No.6 seed finished the game in an hour and eight minutes.

In the next round, Hingis will vie with Japanese Aiko Nakamura (65th) for a spot in the final 16. Contrary to what many had expected, Nakamura beat India’s phenom Sania Mirza (53rd) 2-0 (6-3, 6-2).

Playing the No.4 seed, Clijsters will meet Na Li (16th, seed No. 19) as she as defeated Akiko Morigami (86th) 2-0 (6-3, 6-0). In the first round, Clijsters already accomplished a ‘double bagel’ (winning two sets 6-0).

Being rivals and also close friends, Hingis and Clijsters will likely meet in the quarterfinals just like they did last year. Last year, Clijsters enjoyed the victory over Hingis who returned after three years of suffering from injury. Already sharing the trait that they underwent successful rehabilitation in common, both of them have recently excited the public’s curiosity with their love scandals.

Accepting the proposal of Czech tennis star Radek Štěpánek, Hingis got engaged to him last year. Clijsters has said that she would retire after this season as she is going to marry the American basketball player Brian Lynch this summer.

In the men’s singles, Lleyton Hewitt (19th, Australia) and James Blake (fifth, USA) advanced to the third round.

kjs0123@donga.com