Clijsters keeps tongue in check after final

Melbourne - Kim Clijsters kept her anger in check after her latest grand slam heartbreak on Saturday, refusing to blame a controversial line call for her 6-3 4-6 6-3 defeat by Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open final.

In a cruel twist, Clijsters was the victim of an overrule from the chair while facing break point at 4-3 down in the final set, even though television replays showed her volley had clipped the baseline.

"I'm not going to blame the umpire or anything because everybody makes mistakes," said Clijsters, biting her tongue.

"I'm not the type of player to start complaining after matches. A few people have told me that it was in, so that's even more disappointing."

A diplomatic Clijsters refused to blame Henin-Hardenne for influencing the umpire after the world number one had raised her finger to indicate the ball was long.

"I'm not going to go into things like that. I don't want to start any trouble or anything," said Clijsters.

"You feel things when they come off the racket. I definitely had the feeling it was good but there's nothing I can do about it now."

For Clijsters, defeat by Henin-Hardenne was another devastating blow, having lost to her fellow Belgian in the finals of the French Open and U.S. Open last year.

"It's always tough to lose them. I definitely felt like today I played a lot better than I did in the previous finals that I played against her," said Clijsters.

"Justine makes you go for so many shots that are not natural. You try to go closer to the lines and then you miss a few. She made me go a little bit out of my comfort zone."

Second seed Clijsters took solace from the fact that she had reached her first Melbourne final despite seriously spraining an ankle at the Hopman Cup earlier this month.

"My foot is not 100 percent, so in a way I'm very lucky to have been out there," said the 20-year-old, who aggravated the injury in her quarter-final victory over Russian Anastasia Myskina.

"I could have been home for two weeks in Belgium... watching matches on TV. At least I gave myself a shot at it."

Clijsters, dubbed "Aussie Kim" in Melbourne because of her engagement to Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, bristled at suggestions that she had "choked" again after losing her fourth grand slam final.

"I don't think it's got anything to do with the psychological (side) at all," said Clijsters, who had come within two points of winning the 2001 French Open final before losing to Jennifer Capriati.

"It's the little things. My serve was off. I just have to make sure I stay aggressive...be more mature. I just wasn't consistent enough."