Clijsters stunned to explain crushing Australian Open defeat

 KIM Clijsters admitted she could not explain her sudden dip in form after she crashed out of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

STAYING POSITIVE: Kim Clijsters insists she won't 'start doubting herself' following her thumping defeat in the third round of the Australian Open (Getty Images)

The US Open champion, who was on course for an eagerly anticipated quarter-final with Justine Henin,  wasn't just beaten by Russia's Nadia Petrova - she was thrashed.

The Belgian won just one game, as she went down tamely 6-0, 6-1 to a player she had beaten in their four previous encounters.

"I was completely off and it sucks," admitted Clijsters. 

"It's something you don't want to happen too often.  Maybe it happens once a year where you feel like this."

Clijsters had the ideal preparation for the first Grand Slam of the season, winning the Brisbane International and arriving in Melbourne brimming with confidence.

Famously superstitious, she couldn't even blame that on her defeat.

"I ate the same, slept the same, everything was the same. I really have nothing else to say to explain it," she added.

"I want to forget this as soon as possible and go home, have a few days off, and then start working hard again.

"I won't get down or start doubting myself."