A year ago, after putting Elena Baltacha out in the third round, second seed Safina had to quit in the first set of her next match when her back gave up on her, setting in train a spiral which bottomed out awfully in Melbourne on Tuesday. In the first round, everybody's darling, Kim Clijsters, put the former world No1 out of the tournament, 6-0, 6-0. In the 44 minutes the slaughter lasted, our Kim, as the Australians still call Lleyton Hewitt's ex, put 51 winners past the troubled Russian, who has sunk to 75 in the world. There was sympathy for Safina, and a silver photo frame for Clijsters, courtesy of the International Tennis Writers Association, who voted the third seed one of their two worldwide ambassadors, along with the sainted Rafa Nadal, because they are both, plainly, a joy to deal with.
Contained within the Belgian mum's frame was a picture of Clijsters beating Safina. It's a memory she might like to park to one side, however. Even hardened pros don't like to dwell on the misery of their peers; it could easily happen to them. Safina's desolation, meanwhile, was complete. A once fine athlete, full of fire and confidence, she was reduced to explaining her humiliation armed only with her own questions and doubts. "I didn't know how to win a point," she said. "Embarrassing. Something was not right. I don't know." It was hardly a blip, she pointed out. The previous week in Hobart, she took a single game off Marion Bartoli. In her past 10 matches, she has won only twice.
