Clijsters and Wozniacki fit for Australian Open
MELBOURNE — Holder Kim Clijsters and top seed Caroline Wozniacki yesterady declared themselves fighting fit after successfully dealing with injuries with the Australian Open starting tomorrow.
Belgian Clijsters, ranked 12th, quit in a Brisbane semifinal just over a week ago with a problem which turned out to be muscle spasms in her hip. Wozniacki has recovered after a wrist injury last week in Sydney.
"When it happened, I really felt the sharp pain, I was a bit concerned. But now it feels good, so I'm okay," said world number one Wozniacki.
The 21-year-old Dane, who opens play at Melbourne Park against Australian Anastasia Rodionova, said that a mishap of any kind on court "makes you a bit scared." "I should maybe not have finished the match, I should maybe just have cut it off in the third set. But I'm a competitor, I wanted to try to do my best out there.
"Everything turned out to be okay with the wrist. You know, I had some pain, but it's going away. I'm confident that on Monday it will be a 100 per cent ready.
"I've been pretty lucky with injuries," said the Dane, who is on a quest to lift her first Grand Slam title after holding the WTA top spot for the past two seasons. "I've had some small ones also with the ankles and things.
Clisters said the timing of her injury could not have been better, as her January 6 problem allowed her time to get fit for the major.
"I knew it was something that would only need a few days to get better," said the 28year-old mother of one, who could well be playing in her last season. "I had my scan just to make sure the day after, but that showed no problems.
"I was relieved, I came to Melbourne and started hitting when I got here." The former number one and winner of four Grand Slams — she beat China's Li Na in the 2011 Melbourne final — said her title defence will be exciting.
"Obviously you have that good feeling when you step out on a court where you've done well, where you've achieved a dream or something that came true. So you automatically get that positive vibe again.
"But that obviously doesn't mean that it will go easy and smooth the next year. I'll just take one match at a time, just make sure that I keep having my same routines.
"I need to try and be in the best shape that I can be every day, then we'll see how it goes." Clijsters said that a dream scenario of wrapping up her career at the London Olympics is too far ahead to plan for. "I'm just very focused on why I'm here — to play good tennis and try to stay healthy throughout the whole season.
"I don't want to have major injuries where my season might be a question mark. I'd like to end it (her career) on my terms." — dpa MELBOURNE — Serbian ace Novak Djokovic warned he was in the form of his life and hoping to repeat his landmark 2011 as he prepares to unleash his title tilt at the Australian Open.
The world No 1 said he would take some stopping as he bids to add to last year's triple Grand Slam triumph, achieved during a breathtaking year often described as the best the sport has seen.
"You can always see the negatives and positives. I'm always trying to take the positive side and say, okay, I've done it once, I can do it twice," he told journalists.
"I feel that I'm at the peak of my career. I feel that physically, mentally, gamewise, I'm right up there.
"I can perform equally well on any surface, as I have proven in 2011. That's my focus. That's something that I'm thinking of. Just taking it slowly, step by step."
Djokovic said the London Olympics were firmly in his sights and that he planned to enter both the singles and the men's doubles in a bid to bring home a medal to Serbia.
"It's right up there. It's one of the biggest priorities this year, Olympic Games. I had that privilege and honor to represent my country in 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was a remarkable experience, like no other," he said.
"Tennis is just one of so many sports that is present in the Olympic Games, which is the most prestigious, the most valuable, the most well known sporting event in the history of sport. That says enough."
He also shrugged off the challenge of resurgent world number three Roger Federer, who is coming off a 20-match winning streak including victory at the ATP World Tour Finals at the end of last season.
"Well, he finished off the season best from all the other players," Djokovic said. — AFP