Kim Clijsters suffers shock loss in Spanish tournament
 Clijsters only accepted a late wild card to enter the tournament |
Kim Clijsters made a shock early exit at the Andalucia Open in Marbella, losing to world number 258 Beatriz Garcia Vidagany of Spain in round two.
The reigning US Open champion lost the opening set but looked to have regained control when she took the second.
But Garcia Vidagany stunned the Belgian as she broke her three times in the deciding set to seal a 7-5 4-6 6-4 win.
The tournament was Clijsters' first on clay in three years following her two-year spell in retirement.
Clijsters, 26, arrived in Marbella as the number three seed on the back of an impressive win over Venus Williams in the Miami final last Sunday.
But the Belgian had needed three sets to beat Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round as she struggled to adapt to the clay, and she could not convert three set points in the opening set against Garcia Vidagany.
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"I feel disappointed with the way I played," Clijsters told the WTA website. "I played a really bad match. I felt mentally drained.
"Maybe the change from Miami came too quickly, but I played a good player today. She didn't make any mistakes.
"Marbella has been really great though. It's beautiful here and everyone working here was so nice. You really want to do well here - it's a shame I lost today."
Garcia Vidagany, 21, came through qualifying and is playing in the main draw of a WTA event for the first time.
Top seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus had little trouble in seeing off Estrella Cabeza Candela 6-2 6-4.
