Kim Clijsters delivered a 'double bagel' on Dinara Safina in the first round of the Australian Open tonight - and promptly expressed her sympathy for the struggling Russian.
Safina's fall from grace has been spectacular. World number one as recently as 15 months ago, Safina is now down at 75 following a dismal 2010.
And she was no match for third seed Clijsters, who romped to a 6-0 6-0 win in just 44 minutes.
Afterwards, the Belgian, who herself was beaten 6-0 6-1 by Nadia Petrova in the third round here last year, admitted she did not particularly enjoy inflicting such a crushing defeat.
‘There's probably not much you can say to make her feel any better or that's going to help but I know her well,’ she said.
‘We were talking in the locker room. She's a good girl like that, it's not like she's not going to talk to me for the next two months when I see her on the road.
‘That's the sport we play. We step out there with two players and sometimes things like that can happen. But I just hope it's not going to make her confidence go even lower.’
Safina admitted she had been embarrassed on Rod Laver Arena just over a week after losing 6-0 6-1 to Marion Bartoli in Auckland.
‘I didn't know how to win a point,’ she said.
‘There was nothing I could do to hurt her. [It was] embarrassing.
‘To lose two tournaments in a row 6-0 6-1 then 6-0 6-0, it's time to scratch the head and think 'what the hell am I doing'?
‘It's not that I don't want it, I do.’
Clijsters' victory was the most emphatic on day two but there were also impressive wins for second seed Vera Zvonareva and Sam Stosur, who is seeded fifth.
Zvonareva opened the day's action with a 6-2 6-1 win over Austrian Sybille Bammer in just 59 minutes.
The Russian is hoping to go one better than her last two grand slam appearances which saw her lose in the final at Wimbledon and the US Open.
‘I'm definitely happy with the way I played today [but] it's very tough to play your best tennis in the first match and I think I struggled a little finding the rhythm out there,’ she said.
Stosur was rarely threatened by young American Lauren Davis, ranked 443 in the world, cruising to a 6-1 6-1 success.
The Australian said: ‘I thought I played very well. There's not too much I did wrong, I don't think.
‘I was able to set up points, rally well and when I got a chance to hit the winner, I did.
‘So, yeah, a very good way to start the tournament.’
Stosur went into the game with little knowledge of Davis' game but quickly got the feeling it was going to be her day, adding: ‘I didn't know how she was going to play or how she hit the ball or anything like that.
‘First thing first was to see what she was going to be able to do.
‘During the warm-up, I started feeling pretty comfortable with the ball I was getting. I got the feeling if I set up the point, hit a good shot to begin with at the start of the rally, I was going to be able to dictate, do whatever I wanted to do.’
Also making progress on day two were Jelena Jankovic, Agnieszka Radwanska and Petrova.
Seventh seed Jankovic saw off a second set fightback to knock out Alla Kudryavtseva 6-0 7-6 (7/5), Radwanska, seeded 12, required three sets to oust Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-
Krumm while number 13 Petrova crushed Ksenia Pervak 6-2 6-1.
Ana Ivanovic, the 19th seed, is out, however, following a tough defeat to Ekaterina Makarova.
The former world number one started well but eventually succumbed 3-6 6-4 10-8.
