Weather is back to normal at day four of Ordina Op

By Etienne Stekelenburg
June 20 2002

The Dutch weather condition was back to normal on the fourth day of the Ordina Open in Rosmalen. After a two and a half hour rain delay the players could finally pick up their gear and come out to play. After the sun had scorched the grass courts for three days it was about time for refreshment.

Two surprising results could be added to the score sheet of this rainy day.
First shocker was when last year finalist and first seed Kim Clijsters
walked off court 1. Tina Pisnik from Slovenia ousted Clijsters; she also
beat nr 7 seed Serra Zanetti from Italy in the previous round. The first set
was going into a tiebreak and was won by Pisnik; the second set was not as close as the first. Tina Pisnik was all over Clijsters who made to many
errors and an easy 7-6 6-2 was the result.

In an interview after the match Kim Clijsters explained that things are not
the same as last year. She is having trouble with her arm and she said that
the doctor left her with three choices to make. First she can decide to have
an operation, second option is to retire for six months and the third choice
would be to take it much easier like she is used to. Meaning that she is not
allowed to practise and play as many tournaments as she is used to. Kim
Clijsters opted for the last choice, maybe the factor which led to losing
today and Roland Garros in an early stage.

Second upset of the day could be seen on court 2 where the Greek rising star Eleni Daniilidou got rid off the French powerhitter Amelie Mauresmo in two sets. Too many mistakes by Mauresmo let to a 6-4 6-4 Greek victory.
Daniilidou will be playing against Justine Henin in the next round. Henin
was having a hard time fighting off Elena Bovina. The tall 19-years-old
player from Russia could not win the tiebreak in the first set but showed
her fighting spirit. The second set turned out to be close as the first but
Henin was able to close the match at 7-6 6-4.

Another Russian player, Bovina's namesake and double partner Elena
Dementieva had to work her way into the next round by winning over Magdalena Maleeva (nr 5 seed) from Bulgaria in three sets, 6-2 0-6 6-1. Dementieva, who is the fourth seed, is going to play Tina Pisnik in the semi-final.

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