No matter how she's moving, the way she's serving or what she's wearing, we know one thing about Kim Clijsters: Her groundstrokes are going to be better than her opponents' almost every time. Anastasiya Yakimova, Clijsters' first-round opponent today at Roland Garros, was not in that exclusive minority. We could tell by her shots—they had too much net clearance to be threatening—and by Clijsters' throughout her 6-2, 6-3 win. I specifically recall a crushed second-serve return (forehand, up the line) to take a double-break lead in the first set, but Yakimova was regularly pressured by an array of Clijsters forehands and backhands.
Playing in her first French Open since 2006 and her first match since Miami, Clijsters advanced comfortably but was far from flawless. Her serve was skittish and she often pressed, particularly when serving up 5-1 in the first and second sets; she was broken each time. Still, on both occasions she owned an insurance break, so you can discern how Yakimova served: Yuck. Clijsters broke her six times in all, though the No. 2 was broken thrice herself.
Returning from a severe ankle injury, I was curious to see Clijsters' footwork. It worked for me, and it certainly wasn't the reason this match got interesting at the end, when Clijsters nearly coughed up a double-break advantage. After a trio of terrible errors, Yakimova had a trio of break points to get back on serve, but Clijsters saved them all, along with a lot of energy. That's perhaps the most important takeaway from this match, if you're in the business of forecasting how someone who hasn't played in two months can possibly win a Grand Slam title. But that's pretty much what Clijsters did at the 2009 U.S. Open, right?
—Ed McGrogan