Clijsters pulls no punches following shock exit

KIM CLIJSTERS blamed a loss of confidence for her shock second-round defeat by Arantxa Rus at the French Open yesterday while Maria Sharapova admitted she was lucky to avoid joining the Belgian in making an early exit.

Second seed Clijsters, who was going for a third consecutive grand slam title, looked in control at a set and 5-2 up but she missed two match points and from there it was all downhill as Rus won 11 of the last 12 games to triumph 3-6 7-5 6-1.

Asked to explain her dramatic slump, Clijsters said: “I’m still trying to figure that out. I felt kind of in control. I felt like she was missing quite a lot at the beginning of the rallies, and I felt that I was moving her around well from side to side.