Melbourne, Jan 20: Kim Clijsters is in a league of her own. When she gets going, tennis appears to be a game devoid of any complications and in this age of slam bang tennis, when the Williams, Sharapovas and Henins intimidate the opposition to death she plays like a smiling crusader who strangles the opponent to death.
The Belgian, a serious contender for the Women's title, reinforced her credentials when she beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3 to reach the third round of Australian Open 2011. Clijsters took a little over an hour to get past Navarro 6-1, 6-3.
Dressed in green, the 27-year old Belgian, smashed 21 winners compared to six from Navarro. Clijsters, in pursuit of her first Australian Open title, moved around the court with the flexibility of a gymnast and ripped off winners from the ground to smartly snatch the match away from Navarro.
Though she still remains a strong hitter of the ball, but the opposition is left blissfully unaware because of her near-stoic external expression. It is this feature of her that has undone many opponents and 62 ranked Navarro just added her name to the casualty list.
Clijsters, will now face either Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez or Alize Cornet in the next round.