Clijsters Wins Sixth Title of 2005 at Toronto
August 21, 2005
Clijsters Wins Sixth Title of 2005 at Toronto
TORONTO - Kim Clijsters continued her domination of North American events on
Sunday, winning her sixth title of the season at the Rogers Cup presented by
American Express. The No.7 captured her third US Open Series title of the
summer with a 75 61 victory against No.4 seeded countrywoman Justine
Henin-Hardenne. It was the 10th time in 19 career meetings that Clijsters has
prevailed against Henin-Hardenne.
It was also the 10th time (eight straight) that Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne
had meet in a Tour final. Entering Sunday's finale, Henin-Hardenne had won
seven-of-nine championship match meetings with Clijsters.
"It's always great to beat players that you've lost to a few times," Clijsters
said. "Especially against her, I've lost to her some big matches already.
It's great to win some as well."
With the victory, Clijsters also continued her unbelievable assault on the
North American hard courts. Beginning earlier this year, the Belgian player
has now won titles in North American at 1;33Indian Wells, Miami, Stanford,
Los Angeles and now Toronto. Add on her grass court title from Eastbourne
and that gives her a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour-best six titles in 2005, along
with a Tour-leading 49 match wins.
Playing against a strong wind at the Rexall Centre on the York University
campus, Clijsters built a 4-1 lead early on Henin-Hardenne, but saw that lead
evaporate. However she was able to hold onto the set, closing things out in
the 12 game.
In the second, Clijsters also gained an early lead and this time didn't relent,
dropping just a single game in the final set.
" I think I stayed very focused and very patient throughout the whole match,"
Clijsters said. "Even when I was 4-1 up, I was playing really well at the
start. I was moving around, just from side-to-side, opening up the court a lot."
Clijsters made it through the week in Toronto without dropping a set and
spending very little time on court. After her first round bye, Clijsters
defeated Virginie Razzano in the second round and then received a free pass
into the quarterfinals when No.12 seed Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the
tournament due to a right pectoral muscle strain.
The Belgian player then went on to defeat No.14 seed Flavia Pennetta in the
quarters and No.9 seed Anastasia Myskina in the semifinals to reach the final.
With five hard court titles this year, Clijsters will be considered a strong
favorite at the US Open, which begins on August 29.
Meanwhile, Henin-Hardenne also had a solid week in Canada in her first action
since Wimbledon. She coasted into the semifinals with straight sets wins versus
qualifiers Mariana Diaz-Oliva and Zheng Jie, along with Nicole Vaidisova. She
faced her first strong opposition in the semis, where she posted a 75 36 61
win against No.2 seed Amelie Mauresmo.
1;31The loss to Clijsters was Henin-Hardenne's first loss in a Tour final this
year. She had previously been 4-0 in finals, winning clay court titles at
Charleston, Warsaw, Berlin and Roland Garros. Henin-Hardenne still maintains
the Tour's best winning percentage with a 31-3 record.
"I think Kim played pretty solid, very consistent," Henin-Hardenne said. "But
the conditions were difficult. It was real windy, and I never found a good
rhythm. I was a little bit tired. I played three nights in a row and went to
bed very late last two nights, so I was for sure tired and I wasn't moving
well on the court.
"Even though I kept fighting, at the end of the first set I came back at 5 All,
but it was hard for me to keep the rhythm like this. No excuses. She played
better than me."
In doubles, Martina Navratilova captured her 175th career title, teaming with
Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld to win her first title of the season. The No.8
seeded duo defeated No.3 seeds Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual,
57 63 64.
The win was the first title of the year for Navratilova and the second of the
season for Groenefeld. Navratilova last won a doubles title in 2004, teaming
with Lisa Raymond to capture the title at Vienna.
"It's wonderful, it's been a while," said Navratilova of her latest doubles
title. "It's been a long time coming. Been in a few finals, but no wins.
This one was sweet. It's always nice to win with a new partner. You feel like
you get better together and work together. We've done a lot of practicing
together. It's very rewarding to see that you get better as a team."
Groenefeld said she was thrilled to have the opportunity to play alongside
Navratilova and has been picking up a lot from the legendary player.
"On the court she's teaching me so much stuff, where to stay, where to hit the
balls, what to do," Groenefeld said. "It's really a great help, great
opportunity for me to learn so much about doubles also, then also about other
things off the court. So it's really interesting, I really enjoy it."
Martinez and Ruano Pascual were appearing in their third final of the season,
having already won titles at Charleston and San Diego.
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