The Hindu : Sport : Grand Slam glory at last for Kim Clijsters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 12, 2005

Sport

Sport

Grand Slam glory at last for Kim Clijsters

Liz Robbins

NEW YORK: Kim Clijsters played at warp speed, sliding into leg splits and towing the listless Mary Pierce in her wake, in a hurry to fulfil the destiny that had eluded her for so long.

Clijsters needed just 1 hour 5 minutes — which included five minutes for Pierce's trainer visit and a bathroom break in the interlude between sets — to capture her first title in a Grand Slam event.

And when Clijsters, the 22-year-old from Belgium, erased the disappointment of four previous Grand Slam finals losses by trouncing Pierce, 6-3, 6-1, in the prime-time final of the U.S. Open, she was not finished running.

Owing to the gymnastic genes of her mother, Els, Clijsters scrambled off the court, climbed over fans in the first few rows and onto a 2-inch iron railing travelling diagonally up to the players' box where her mother, coach and boyfriend's family sat.

Her climb off the court had already been more treacherous as Clijsters had returned from a wrist injury that kept her out for eight months last year and had her questioning her future in tennis.

Double bonus

With a refreshing smile, Clijsters roared back by collecting not only the silver U.S. Open trophy, but also a payday of $2.2 million — the double bonus she earned by winning three out of four tournaments this summer in the U.S. Open Series.

"She finally did it," said her coach, Marc Dehous. "She was capable of it. She's been No. 1 in singles and doubles. So I think you can say she can win a Slam. But saying it and doing it, that's something completely different."

This was her tournament to lose — not just because of her history, and not because the 30-year-old Pierce had her right leg heavily wrapped, as if she had just left a trauma room. Clijsters had the best summer of any women's player and had already beaten her most formidable challengers.

Amazing feeling

"It's still very hard to believe," Clijsters said on court. "It's an amazing feeling, it means so much. I am a little bit speechless."

But she was far from that. Clijsters instead asked nicely before a live television audience and 20,000 fans if she could have the microphone from the sportscaster Dick Enberg. Then she proceeded to compliment Pierce, not just on making the final, but on her level of fitness, and for being an inspiration.

No longer a shy young woman, Clijsters almost sounded like a movie star at the Academy Awards, thanking everyone close to her, including "the two most important men" in her life — her father, Leo, and boyfriend, Brian Lynch, who were both back in Belgium.

"I'm so happy for you; you're such a sweet girl," Pierce had said only moments before. "You're a fantastic player and you're really too good today, congratulations."

Clijsters' arrival was anticipated, but Pierce's appearance in the final was a mild surprise. Not only was she competing at the elderly tennis age of 30, but she had also gone further at the Open than she ever had before. Still, this year has seen a mild resurgence for Pierce, who reached the French Open final, only to lose to Justine Henin-Hardenne, 6-1, 6-1.

Counterpunching

Clijsters broke Pierce's serve in the first game of the match and then, with her typical counterpunching style, goaded Pierce into overhitting and committing 28 errors. Clijsters had 16 winners, Pierce just seven for the match.

Clijsters raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set before Pierce surged back to win the next two games, and Dehous admitted he was worried. Pierce then called for the trainer at the changeover with Clijsters leading 4-3. Pierce asked about the wrap on her right leg, the same leg she had wrapped in the middle of her contentious semifinal match on Friday against Elena Dementieva.

After Clijsters won the first set 6-3 in 37 minutes, the trainer came out again and tightened the wrap. Pierce then took a bathroom break. Clijsters sat calmly on her chair, taking a drink.

No challenge

She won 12 of the next 13 points to open the second set, moving Pierce around, calculating when to go in for the kill. As she did at the French Open final, Pierce barely provided a challenge on the other side of the net.

Pierce stretched the allowable time between serves to adjust her ponytail, blink a few times and make sure that no fan even thought about moving. Dementieva, after losing in three sets in the semifinal and complaining about Pierce's play, said she had enough time to take a "little walk" between points.

It took Pierce 13 years to get to her first U.S. Open final and another 13, it seemed, to play her matches here. Clijsters, meanwhile, was on a mission to make it her time.

In Clijsters' first career Grand Slam final, the 2001 French Open, she raced to an early lead against Jennifer Capriati and won the first set 6-1, but she wound up losing the match after dropping the third set, 12-10. In her next three finals in Grand Slam events, Clijsters found herself matched against Henin-Hardenne, and lost all three times.

Coming into this tournament, Clijsters, who had reached the No. 1 ranking in the summer of 2003, seemed happier and more relaxed than she had ever been. She had a new boyfriend, Lynch, an American basketball player she had met in her hometown, Bree, Belgium, while he was playing professionally there.

On the day that her former fiancee, Lleyton Hewitt, lost in the semifinals to Roger Federer, Clijsters established herself as a champion in her own right, coming back fully from the wrist injury in 2004, a demarcation that has propelled Clijsters into what she considers a second career.

With her performance at the Open, Pierce is assured of her ranking returning to the top 10 for the first time since April 1, 2001. One year later, she plummeted to No. 295 in the rankings, sidelined with ankle and back injuries.

But while she put her game back together with the assistance of her brother and coach, David, and her former coach, Nick Bollettieri, Pierce was unable to punctuate the comeback with a major title.

That distinction was left for Clijsters.

Agencies add

Dream match-up

Roger Federer and Andre Agassi set up a dream final for the men's singles title with dramatic semifinal wins.

Federer again looked below his best but was still good enough to score a 6-3, 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-3 win over Australia's Lleyton Hewitt.

Oldest man in the tournament, Agassi belied his 35 years to win a five-setter against compatriot Robby Ginepri, 13 years his junior, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

The two have met 10 times since 1998 and Federer leads 7-3, winning the last seven in a row.

Agassi blew hot and cold through four sets, but just as he had done against James Blake in the last eight, he surged again in the fifth drawing energy and inspiration from his fans in a capacity crowd inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium showcourt.

Agassi forced the issue in the sixth game of that decider, breaking Ginepri's serve with an audacious drop shot to lead 4-2 and then serving out comfortably to reach the final with an ace on match point.

"I am in the finals. It's awesome," he said. "We are into the home stretch. I will be here tomorrow and let it all hang out."

"With the momentum Robby had going into the fifth set, it could have been the last set I would ever play at the U.S. Open. I just had to give it all I had."

Playing in his 20th straight U.S. Open, Agassi is seeking his third title at Flushing Meadows after 1994 and 1999.

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