Goodbye supermom

First mother to win Major since '80,Clijsters bids adieu after second round loss to Brit teen

Kim Clijsters8217; illustrious singles career drew to an emotional close on Wednesday when the former world No. 1 was knocked out of the second round of the US Open by Britain8217;s Laura Robson. Robson8217;s compatriot Andy Murray later made light work of Croatia8217;s Ivan Dodig to reach the third round but it was the 7-6 7-6 defeat of Belgian Clijsters that grabbed the attention as the first significant upset of the tournament.

Murray8217;s 6-2 6-1 6-3 second round victory completed the third consecutive night of uncompetitive matches on the showcase Arthur Ashe Stadium. The big names have won six matches in prime time for the loss of only 24 games. Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic earlier survived a scare against Guillaume Rufin to be one of nine men to recover from two-set deficits in the opening round.

Clijsters,three-times a US Open champion,remains in the doubles and mixed doubles but the loss to Robson was her final singles match before she quits the tour to concentrate on family life. She saved two match points in the 12th game of the second set with a searing forehand volley and a huge first serve. The tiebreak was tense as Clijsters fought to extend her career but Robson,the world number 89 playing with fearless aggression and pinpoint accuracy,converted her third match point and it was all over for the 29 year old.

8220;I have played some of my best tennis here ,8221; Clijsters said. 8220;It is a place that has inspired me. This feels like the perfect place to retire but I just wish it wasn8217;t today. I fought and gave it my all but just wasn8217;t good enough. It8217;s all been worth it but I8217;m looking forward to the next part of my life.8221;

Robson paid tribute to Clijsters in an on-court interview. 8220;I want to say thanks to Kim for being such a great role model for so many years. I have grown up watching you play and it has been an honour to finally play against you,8221;Robson said.

No change in script

Other matches on Wednesday went mostly to script,the only mild surprises involving lower seeds. World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka overpowered Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens 6-2 6-2 in 65 minutes in a blustery Arthur Ashe Stadium before defending champion Sam Stosur recorded a routine 6-3 6-0 win over Edina Gallovits-Hall. Russia8217;s third seed Maria Sharapova trounced Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0 6-1.

Murray was equally untroubled in his win over Dodig and thousand of spectators walked out before the match was completed. Elsewhere in the men8217;s draw,fourth-seeded David Ferrer disposed of Kevin Anderson 6-4 6-2 7-6 and local hope John Isner won a high-quality clash with Xavier Malisse 6-3 7-6 5-7 7-6.

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Ernests Gulbis defeated 21st seed Tommy Haas 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-5 6-3 and Gilles Muller snuck home for a 2-6 3-6 7-5 7-6 7-6 defeat of 28th seed Mikhail Youzhny to join Tipsarevic in the band of players who have come back from the brink. Former men8217;s champion Juan Martin del Potro as well as top women Petra Kvitova and Li Na all progressed with routine victoriesSorana Cirstea.

Bhupathi-Bopanna out

Sania Mirza entered the mixed doubles second round with a new partner,but the Mahesh Bhupahti-Rohan Bopanna combo made a first-round exit from the men8217;s doubles event. Sania and Colin Fleming defeated the British-American combination of Andrea Petkovic and Eric Butorac 6-2 7-6 5. Eight seeded pair of Bhupathi and Bopanna,however,lost in the first round itself. losing 3-6 6-7 4 to unseeded Australians Matthew Ebden and Bernard Tomic. The fifth seed pair of Leander Paes Radek Stepanek advanced with and easy6-3 6-3 win over the German duo of Dustin Brown and Christopher Kas.