Clijsters breezes past Fedak

Former world number one Kim Clijsters [Images] took just 44 minutes to knock out Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak 6-1, 6-0 at Berlin's Steffi Graf [Images] stadium on Tuesday and reach the second round of the German Open.

A relaxed and confident looking Clijsters, now ranked 17th in the world, broke Fedak's serve in the first game and converted two more break points.

Fedak looked outclassed as Clijsters, 21, immediately broke serve in the second set and dominated to the end with strong backhand winners.

The former world number one, who is seeded 11th in the claycourt tournament said: "Everything felt pretty good today... I felt like I was going for a lot of winners."

But she repeated her dislike of clay, the surface at the French Open Grand Slam which starts at the end of May.

"It is tough for me to play good tennis like on other surfaces and that is challenging."

A 17-match winning streak came to an end for Clijsters in Warsaw last week when she lost to Russia's [Images] Svetlana Kuznetsova, the U.S. Open champion, in the semi-finals. She had previously won consecutive titles at Indian Wells and Miami [Images].

Earlier on Tuesday former world number five Daniela Hantuchova [Images] was bundled out of the tournament, beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Argentine 20-year-old Gisela Dulko.

French ninth seed Nathalie Dechy lost 7-5, 6-1 to Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar but sixth seed Nadia Petrova of Russia and 13th seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro both won their matches comfortably.

Seven-times grand slam champion Serena Williams [Images] pulled out last week with an ankle injury but the field for the $1.3 million claycourt event is still formidable.

Belgium's other former world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne, winner in Warsaw on Sunday, will play on Wednesday after rain delayed play.

Russians Maria Sharapova [Images], Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina [Images] all have byes into the second round along with last year's champion Amelie Mauresmo of France [Images].

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