Clijsters Remembers Her No. 1 Priority

Whether it was the way Maria Sharapova was hitting her first serve, or her forehand, or simply the way the 16-year-old Russian was springing around the court as if on a trampoline, one thing appeared certain during the 21-minute second set Thursday night:

Kim Clijsters’ pursuit of the No. 1 ranking was in jeopardy at Carson.

But things change quickly in tennis, shifting within minutes. All it took was two games in the third set and the race for No. 1 was back on. The top-seeded Clijsters, of Belgium, broke Sharapova in the opening game of the third, held her own serve and had little trouble after that, winning, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, in the third round of the JPMorgan Chase Open.

It may not have been a crowded house -- an announced 2,637 spectators for the evening session at the Home Depot Center -- but there was enough energy to lift Clijsters.

“I think it’s great to have those type of matches,” said Clijsters, who will face Svetlana Kuznetsova today in the quarterfinals. “It was a really good atmosphere out there today. It’s what makes it nice and makes me play better.... My next one will be tough too, another Russian.”

Of course. Young Russians seem to be everywhere these days in women’s tennis.

Clijsters was full of praise for Sharapova, saying the 16-year-old played “a perfect second set.”

She was asked about Sharapova’s future.

“I think she can go all the way,” Clijsters said. “For a tall girl, she moves pretty well. She’s not a great mover. But I still think she hits the ball so hard and so deep that she doesn’t really let the players move [her] around.”

Sharapova had no doubts about what had happened against Clijsters.

“Experience happened,” Sharapova said. “I mean, I had chances ... that I should have taken. When you let those chances slip away against the No. 2 player in the world, you don’t get the results.”

Clijsters is three matches from taking the No. 1 ranking away from Serena Williams, who is recovering from knee surgery.

Williams will be out for at least six to eight weeks. (Her older sister, Venus Williams, has not played since Wimbledon and on Thursday pulled out of next week’s WTA event in Toronto.)

Clijsters had to put on a strong serving performance Thursday to keep the chase alive. In one stretch, starting early in the first set, she won 19 consecutive points on her serve.

There were three mild upsets in the third round.

Amanda Coetzer, 31, of South Africa defeated No. 10 Meghann Shaughnessy, 7-6 (4), 6-3; qualifier Nicole Pratt of Australia beat No. 7 Conchita Martinez of Spain, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Kuznetsova defeated No. 11 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5.

Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport lost a set for the first time in five matches against Paola Suarez of Argentina, and rallied from a 1-3 third-set deficit to win, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The WTA tour debut of 14-year-old Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine ended in the third round against Ai Sugiyama of Japan. Sugiyama, who said she was impressed with the power of the teenager, won, 6-2, 6-3.

Afterward, Kutuzova declared that she didn’t want to play juniors anymore. Her agent stood in the back of the media room and said he wanted her to enter the U.S. Open junior event, saying it might be good for her to be in a tournament where she faced pressure as the favorite.

Kutuzova, who will turn 15 on Aug. 19, heard the talk about the U.S. Open and left the room with a brief rejoinder, saying: “No juniors.”