Belgian Kirsten Flipkens is a prime example of how a year can be a long time in tennis.
This time last year she entered the Hobart International as the unseeded world no. 51 and made a surprise semi-final run. It is a stark contrast to 2014, where Flipkens is the tournament’s second seed as the world no. 19 and one of the favourites to win the title.
Her success at last year’s Hobart International kick-started a breakthrough year for the 27 year-old, who made a career-best fourth round run at the Australian Open then bettered it with a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon. It propelled her to a career-high ranking of 13 in August.
“2013 was a big surprise for me,” Flipkens said. “It was a really nice year and we will see what happens this year, obviously I will try my best to get the same results.”
Early in her career Flipkens was overshadowed by more successful Belgian compatriots Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, who both topped the world rankings and won multiple grand slam titles. But 2013 was the year she made a name for herself.
This was highlighted when she was named the Belgian Sportswoman of the Year last month, an award that Henin and Clijsters had both previously won.
“It was a big achievement and award for me. It was the best thing I could get at the end of the year, it really means a lot to me,” Flipkens said.
Flipkens has a close relationship with Clijsters, who won the Hobart International in 2000. She is mentored by the former Australian Open champion and trains at the Kim Clijsters Academy in Belgium.
With Flipkens’ new top 20 status comes increased expectations and pressure, but the Belgian is not overwhelmed by this as she starts her new season.
“Every single year is different. Every year there is points to defend and every tournament there is pressure. It is just the way that you handle it and the way you put pressure on yourself,” she said.
This attitudes stems from her experience of having a life-threatening injury in 2012, when Flipkens got blood clots in her calf. It made her reassess her priorities and changed her attitude. Although the injury kept her out of tennis for a long period and saw her ranking plummet to outside the world’s top 200, Flipkens said this new found perspective was a positive out of the situation.
“You start to realise more what is important in life and what is not. Losing a tennis match is not such a drama. Your health comes in first place. I was lucky,” she said.
A knee injury had interrupted Flipken’s pre-season, meaning she arrived in Hobart seeking another deep run at the tournament to hone her game ahead of next week’s Australian Open. She did make a strong return in Auckland last week, where she reached the semi-finals.
“Whatever matches I play here is a bonus,” she said.
The second seed made a good start to her 2014 Hobart International campaign, defeating New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic in straight sets in the opening round on Monday.
Flipkens will now play Australian wildcard Storm Sanders for a quarter-final spot today. Sanders stunned China’s Shuai Peng in the opening round to record her first ever WTA main draw win.
The match is the third on the Domain Tennis Centre’s centre court today and will be streamed live.