Yanina Wickmayer plays Melanie Oudin in what could well be a dead rubber in Belgium's Fed Cup tie against the USA.
Oudin looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights when she came out to face Clijsters in front of hordes of Belgian fans in Antwerp on day one. It was a strange response from a player with the experience of winning big matches on show-courts at the US Open in the past but Oudin seemed trapped in Clijsters' aura and went down tamely 6-0, 6-4.
She will need a big improvement to be competitive against Wickmayer who made a fast start to 2011, reaching the Auckland final last month. Wickmayer will have been smarting after her subsequent early exit at the Australian Open but she got Belgium off to a flying start on Saturday with a 6-1, 7-6 over the awkward Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
This one could well be a dead rubber with Kim Clijsters fully expected to wrap up overall tie victory against Mattek-Sands in Sunday's opening match.
Incidentally, Belgium have only won this competition once, way back in 2001. Justine Henin's retirement has dented their chances slightly but if Clijsters and Wickmayer remain available for the rest of this year's ties they will be among the favourites to go all the way.
