Clijsters Claims First Slam
September 11, 2005
Clijsters Claims First Slam
"It's been amazing. A lot of times, it's just so hard to believe everything
I've done this year. All I can say to a lot of people, is there's tough times
out there, but try to stay positive and try to go forward."
FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY, USA - Kim Clijsters became one of the true greats in
women's tennis on Saturday night, capturing her very first Grand Slam title
at the US Open with a dominant 63 61 championship victory over 30-year-old
Frenchwoman Mary Pierce. The major title not only allows Clijsters to shake
the tag of greatest player never to have won a major, but it also marks an
incredible comeback from a career-threatening left wrist injury that left the
22-year-old Belgian on the sidelines for the better part of 2004 and early 2005.
Clijsters came out firing under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, breaking
serve twice en route to an early 4-1 lead. Pierce gained one break back on a
Clijsters double fault and held serve to bring it to 4-3, but the Belgian kept
her composure, winning two straight games to clinch the set. Clijsters
stepped it up in the second set, blasting 10 winners to just six errors and
breaking twice en route to 5-1. Although it looked as though she might allow
Pierce back into the match in the last game, spraying a forehand long on her
first match point, she managed to serve it out in style, firing two big serves
on the last two points which drew returns into the net from the Frenchwoman,
putting an end to the one-hour, five-minute match.
"I knew I was feeling the ball well, and I was moving well, and that's
something that I was definitely missing in my previous Grand Slams," said
Clijsters after the match. "That's when I'm confident, and that's when I can
just sort of let my strokes and my shots go as well."
"I give all the credit to Kim because today, she was obviously the better
player," said Pierce, a two-time Grand Slam champion. "She is quicker than
all the other girls that I've played so far. She got another ball back every
time... I'm happy for her. She's a great girl. She's a champion. She's been
No.1 in the world, now she has a Grand Slam title to her name."
After shaking hands and exchanging kisses at the net with Pierce, the
athletic Clijsters daringly climbed the railings to her box, embracing among
others her mother Els and coach Marc Dehous.
"As soon as I looked over to them, I just wanted to hug them," said the
Belgian. "So I just decided to run up there. I don't know where I was going,
or what I was doing. Luckily, I made it back okay."
The US Open title run solidifies Clijsters' status as one of the great
players in the history of the women's game. The former No.1 had won 27 career
titles prior to coming to Flushing Meadows this year but had never hoisted a
Grand Slam trophy, despite reaching four finals. She had also won a
Tour-leading six titles in 2005, but failed to make an impression at Roland
Garros and Wimbledon, falling in the round of 16 at both.
"There's a time and a place for everything," said Clijsters. "I just proved
myself, that I can do it and that I'm up there with the best of them. But,
it's all the hard work and everything, that's more satisfying to me, that
it's paid off."
The US Open title also completes an emotional comeback from her struggles
last year and earlier this year with a left wrist injury that required surgery
in June, 2004. She returned to the Tour for good in February of this year
after missing most of the 12 months prior.
"If I look back now, I think everything happened for a reason," said Clijsters.
"There's been a lot of very boring weeks when I was injured, when I was in the
plasters, trying to recover, and doing all these crazy exercises from starting
to move your fingertips to whatever, just all those. And they're very
frustrating. You just have to be patient. But that's something that you just
can't do all those things yourself, you have to have your family, your friends
to help you, to push you, to go for it. It's not just me, it's teamwork, I
think. Maybe that's why I'm sitting here now with this trophy next to me."
Here at Flushing Meadows, the No.4-seeded Clijsters stormed through her first
four rounds losing just 14 games, then won back-to-back three-setters against
Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals and semifinals. She
battled back from a set and 4-2 down to defeat No.10 seed Williams for just
the fourth time in 10 meetings 46 75 61, then regrouped after allowing five
match points in the second set to slip away to close out top seed Sharapova
62 67(4) 63.
For Pierce, the loss to Clijsters marks the end to an impressive 12-match win
streak, in which she helped lead France to victory in the Fed Cup semifinals
against Spain, captured her first Tier I title in over five years with a
scintillating title run at San Diego, and made it all the way to the final at
Flushing Meadows as the No.12 seed, notching impressive wins over No.7 seed
Justine Henin-Hardenne in the fourth round, No.3 seed Amelie Mauresmo in the
quarterfinals and No.6 seed Elena Dementieva in the semifinals. In her two
tournaments before the Fed Cup semifinal, she made it all the way to the
final at Roland Garros before falling to Henin-Hardenne and reached the
quarters at Wimbledon, falling to eventual winner Venus Williams.
"It's just been a great year, especially this summer since the French Open,"
said Pierce. "I'm feeling really good, and I think I'm playing well. I just
really feel like having a break right now, and not thinking about anything to
do with tennis for the moment. Obviously, my next goal for the rest of the year
that would motivate me is to be in the championships at the end of the year.
So hopefully to do well in other tournaments to hopefully do that."
Both finalists were winners in two other respects. Firstly, as the top two
finishers at the end of the 2005 US Open Series, they both received prize
money bonuses, with Clijsters doubling her winner's cheque to $2.2-million,
the biggest single-event earnings in women's sports history, and with Pierce's
increasing by 50% to $825,000. Both women are also projected to move up on
the September 12 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings, with Clijsters
climbing from No.4 to No.3 and Pierce surging into the Top 10 for the first
time in over four years as she moves from No.12 to No.6.
Despite winning her first major title, Clijsters isn't losing sight of her
regular Tour-level commitments, already looking ahead to her next event.
"My next tournament is going to be Luxembourg, and even there my attitude is
going to be the same," she said. "I'm going to work hard and just out of
respect for the tournament, for the people, too. I'm just going to go out
there and play my best and give myself 100%. I do that every week. That's my
attitude. That won't change after this."
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