Kim Clijsters believes there was no way she could have beaten compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne in their French Open semi-final on Thursday.
Clijsters, twice a finalist at Roland Garros, was outclassed 6-3, 6-2 by the Belgian defending champion, who will try to win the tournament for the third time when she faces Russian eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday's final.
"I think she is by far the best clay court player," said Clijsters. "The difference between her and the other players is that she moves so well, not that she hits harder.
"You think you hit a winner but the ball keeps coming back."
The U.S. Open champion, who turned 23 on Thursday, was unable to knock Henin-Hardenne off course on centre court. Henin-Hardenne had just too much claycourt nous.
"I was dominating the points but I just could not finish them off because she is a good defender, especially on clay," said Clijsters who missed out on a chance to take over from France's Amelie Mauresmo at the top of the WTA rankings.
"Her slice kept coming back very low so it was hard for me to hit winners. It is disappointing but I am not complaining about the tournament I have had."
After the early exchanges, Clijsters soon felt her opponent step up a gear and she was simply unable to keep up.
"She started to take a little more risks on her return games. She raised her level, she was too good," said the former world number one.
