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Stunning Clijsters upset, Venus wins at French OpenPosted: Friday May 31, 2002 9:20 AMUpdated: Friday May 31, 2002 3:22 PM
PARIS (AP)-- Kim Clijsters felt sluggish, her game lagged and what followed was a stunning loss at the French Open. Last year's runner-up, Clijsters made 59 unforced errors Friday and was ousted in the third round by the world's No. 87 player. "I just felt tired. My whole body just felt a little heavier. That's not the reason," Clijsters said after she was upset 6-4, 6-0 by Clarisa Fernandez, a lanky left-hander from Argentina. "I just didn't play well. I just didn't move forward enough when I had chances to finish off points quicker," she added. No. 2 Venus Williams and No. 6 Monica Seles also moved on to the round of 16. So did top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and three-time champ Gustavo Kuerten on a day of distractions at Roland Garros. A match between Carlos Moya and Guillermo Canas was interrupted for an hour as officials evacuated Court 1 while they investigated a suspicious briefcase left under the seats in the upper section. They subsequently exploded the briefcase and let the fans back in. "It turned out to be a briefcase forgotten by an absent-minded spectator," organizers said. Canas went on to a five-set victory. And tennis wasn't the only thing on the minds of those roaming the grounds of the picturesque facility. Cheers could be heard while France's soccer team played - and lost - to Senegal in the first round of the World Cup. No. 15 Canas' 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2 win over Moya moves him to the round of 16 against Hewitt. "I just had lost the second set and I don't think this had any bearing on the outcome of the game," Moya said of the interruption. "It's the first time I see this happen in tennis," Canas said. Williams easily beat No. 31 Rita Grande 6-1, 6-4 and will meet fellow American Chanda Rubin, who routed No. 23 Anne Kremer 6-1, 6-0. Seles rolled past Ludmila Cervanova 6-2, 6-2, setting up a round of 16 matchup against 11th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova. Hantuchova beat Tatiana Panova 6-3, 6-1. Hewitt eliminated 30th-seeded Sjeng Schalken 6-1, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-1, while No. 7 Kuerten beat Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Also making the round of 16 was No. 3 Tommy Haas, who downed Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 Clijsters, fourth-seeded, entered the tournament as one of the favorites after losing a thrilling 12-10 third-set tiebreaker to Jennifer Capriati in last year's final. Playing in her first French Open, Fernandez clinched her victory on the sixth match point when Clijsters sent a forehand into the net. Clijsters made at least the quarterfinals in the four previous Grand Slam tournaments, including the semis at the Australian Open in January. "I had a lot of confidence in myself," Fernandez said. "I didn't really look at her ranking. I knew she was one of the best players around." Fernandez's next opponent is 13th-seeded Elena Dementieva, who beat Rossana Neffa-de los Rios 6-3, 6-0. Williams rolled to victory in just 52 minutes. "She dictated everything. I just did what I could to get the ball back. You hit a great shot and she takes two steps and is there," Grande said. "It's nice not being on the court too long. Anything can happen on clay," said Williams, who's lost just 12 games in three matches. Asked if she'd scouted Williams, Rubin -- who's coming back from knee surgery -- said not exactly. "She's been winning so quickly and so easily, I'm probably not
up at that time," Rubin said.
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