New world women's tennis number one Kim Clijsters is refusing to blame a slight neck injury for a 6-4 6-3 defeat by Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova in the Paris Open final.
Top seed Clijsters, who retained her U.S. Open title in September and won the Australian Open last month before helping Belgium into the Fed Cup last four, secured her place as the new number one by reaching the semi-finals at the Stade Coubertin.
However, her winning streak came to a sudden halt as the tall, Kvitova took her third career title thanks to sheer power and superb returns on the fast hardcourt.
