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The 38-year-old Belgian, who is 10 years removed from the last
of her four Grand Slam titles, lost last week at the Chicago
Fall Tennis Classic in her first WTA Tour match of 2021. In
2020, Clijsters fell in the first round of all three events she
entered.
Her last three matches overall have gone to three sets.
Clijsters, currently ranked 1,476th in the world, served nine
double faults and just one ace Thursday. She won only 32 percent
of her second-serve points. Siniakova, ranked 53rd, converted
six of her nine break-point opportunities.
Another former top-10 player, France's Caroline Garcia, produced
a better result Thursday. Garcia, now No. 59, rallied past
Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.
Down a set, Garcia trailed 4-3 in the second set before winning
the match's final nine games.
"We've had a couple of battles in the past and from what I
remember, every time, it was three sets most of the time,"
Garcia said. "She started the match very well. She's coming from
qualies so she's very confident, and for me, it's been a tough
preparation.
"I was a little bit not feeling like myself, but I kept fighting
on every point. I think I really improved, and the end of the
first set, it was really close. The second set was going more my
way but she kept battling, and I stayed more solid."
Also earning first-round wins Thursday were Croatia's Ana Konjuh,
Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska, Italy's Martina Trevisan, Latvia's
Anastasija Sevastova, Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic,
Australia's Astra Sharma and Ajla Tomljanovic, Poland's
Magdalena Frech, Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas, Egypt's Mayar Sherif,
Russia's Anna Kalinskaya and the United States trio of Lauren
Davis, Amanda Anisimova and Alison Riske.
The tournament's top four seeds, No. 1 Karolina Pliskova of the
Czech Republic, No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 3 Barbora
Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and No. 4 Elina Svitolina of
Ukraine, will all open play Friday after receiving first-round
byes.
The two teenage finalists from last month's U.S. Open also will
play their first matches Friday. U.S. Open champ Emma Raducanu
of Great Britain, the 17th seed, will face Belarus' Aliaksandra
Sasnovich. U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez of Canada, the
23rd seed, will oppose France's Alize Cornet.
--Field Level Media
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