Kirsten Flipkens On Fire – By: Matt Cronin

Written by: Staff on 11th January 2013

Kirsten Flipkens On Fire - By: Matt Cronin

epa03277402 Belgian Kristen Flipkens in action during the semi final against Nadia Petrova from Russia at the Unicef Open Tennis tournament in Rosmalen, The Netherlands, Friday June 22, 2012. EPA/KOEN SUYK |

Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens has started the 2013 season as fast as she ended 2012 as the serve-and volleyer has reached the semifinals of Hobart International. Flipkens, who has reached the quarterfinals or better in four of her last five tournaments, got off to a slow start in the opening set of her 2-6 6-4 6-0 victory over the hard-to-read Monica Niculescu, but then climbed all over the Romanian.

“The first set was really tough she just played a really tough game with the forehand slices, coming to the net when I didn’t expect it,” said Flipkens, who wears a 10sballs.com patch. “I started, in the second set, playing more aggressive because that was the only chance for me to win this match.”

A close friend of the now retired Kim Clijsters, Flipkens has come into her own at the age of 27, continuing the sport’s trend where players are peaking later. Last fall, she won her first singles title at Quebec City and reached the semis of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Linz. She ended the season at a career high ranking of No. 54.

She’ll play the hard-hitting defending champion Mona Barthel in the semis, no easy task. However, given that the Belgian had her best-ever Grand Slam result at the 2012 Aussie Open in reaching the third round, at the very least she should be expected to push Barthel hard and make bigger name for herself in Melbourne.

Topics: Australian Open, Australian tennis news, Belgium tennis news, Hobart International, Hobart Tennis News, Kim Clijsters, Kristen Flipkens, Monica Niculescu, Sports, Tennis