Kim Clijsters Comes Off the Bench to Power the New York Empire to Victory in World Team Tennis
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.V. (July 24, 2020) – Former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters continued her impressive play at World TeamTennis by helping the New York Empire win three of the five sets in route to a 25-17 victory over the Vegas Rollers. The win keeps New York in playoff contention at 5-4, currently occupying the No. 4 seed. The loss dashed the Rollers bleak playoff hopes as they fall to 4-7.
Clijsters, who co-piloted victories in Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles in the second and third sets, came off the bench in the fourth, Women’s Singles, for a come from behind tiebreaker victory, 5-4, over 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Monica Puig. Clijsters replaced Sabine Lisicki, down 3-1.
New York would score set victories in the second with Clijsters paired with Kveta Peschke, 5-2, and the third with Clisters and Jack Sock winning a 5-4 tiebreaker over Mike Bryan and Alja Tomljanovic, as she closed things out with a powerful forehand down the line.
KIM CLIJSTERS ON COMING OFF THE BENCH AGAINST MONICA PUIG IN THE FOURTH SET: “It’s tough to keep it going especially when, like I said, I thought I was done after the (Women’s) Doubles and the Mixed (Doubles). To get back out there, I had to prep myself again. I’m 37 (years old) and I know what I have to do to get myself in that mindset, so that helps. Physically it’s not always that easy. I was happy that I was able to do it.”
New York Empire defeat VEGAS ROLLERS, 25-17
Men’s Singles: Jack Sock (Empire) def. Sam Querrey (Rollers), 5-3
Women’s Doubles: Kim Clijsters/Kveta Peschke (Empire) def. Monica Puig/Ajla Tomljanovic (Rollers), 5-2
Mixed Doubles: Clijsters/Sock (Empire) def. Mike Bryan/Tomljanovic (Rollers), 5-4
Women’s Singles: Sabine Lisicki* (Emipre) vs. Puig (Rollers), 5-4
*Clijsters substituted for Lisicki with the Empire trailing 3-1
Men’s Doubles: Sock/Neal Skupski (Empire) def. Mike Bryan/Bob Bryan (Rollers), 5-4
NOTEBOOK:
- Ken Skupski (Orlando Storm) served as an amateur photographer for the match under WTT’s Ryan Loco shooting his brother Neal, among the other competitors.
- Daily WTT video highlights can be found here: https://vimeopro.com/worldteamtennis/wtt-2020-video-highlights
NEXT SCHEDULED MATCH: The New York Empire return to the court on Saturday at 7 PM ET/4PM PT when they take on the Chicago Smash on ESPN+. The Vegas Rollers take on the Chicago Smash the following day, Sunday, at 3 PM ET/Noon ET on Tennis Channel.
