Clijsters falls to Muguruza in comeback match

   So much for easing her way back onto the tour.
   In a matchup of former world No. 1 players, wild card Kim Clijsters lost to ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 7-6 (6) today in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
   "I had a good feeling out there," Clijsters, who won four singles titles in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford (2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006), said on wtatennis.com. "I do feel a little bit of – I'm not going to say relief, but (satisfaction) that I can handle the pace.
   "Second set, I felt I was really in the match. I felt like for a while I was dominating some of the points. That's a good feeling. ... I'll take that with me for the next matches."
   It was the first match since 2012 for Clijsters, a 36-year-old mother of three. Inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017, she has won six Grand Slam titles (four in singles and two in doubles).
   Muguruza, 26, has revived her career this year after reuniting with coach Conchita Martinez. In Muguruza's three other tournaments in 2020, she reached the semifinals in Shenzhen, quarterfinals in Hobart and final in the Australian Open.
   Muguruza advanced to the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic in 2017, the tournament's last year before moving to San Jose as the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic. She also reached the singles quarterfinals and won the doubles title with fellow Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro at Stanford in 2014 at age 20.
   College Men's Indoors – Second-seeded USC overwhelmed seventh-seeded Stanford 4-0 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the ITA Division I Men's National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. The Trojans defeated North Carolina 4-1 today for the title.
   College Women's Indoors – Fourth-seeded UCLA dominated top-seeded Stanford 4-0 in the semifinals of the ITA Division I Women's National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 9 in Chicago. Second-seeded North Carolina routed the Bruins 4-0 for the crown.