Walkover for Clijsters

Kim Clijsters was handed a walkover into the third round after her opponent Viktoria Kutuzova was forced to withdraw because of a viral infection.

The Belgian number two seed, in the bottom half of the draw, will now meet the winner of Eva Birnerova and Jie Zheng of China.

Clijsters, 23, reached the semi-finals in 2003, but after climbing to second in the world rankings, she looks set to make a strong challenge and had beaten Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in straight sets in round one yesterday.