[KIM ] Clijsters Wins Hasselt, Heads To Madrid On Winning Note
November 5, 2006
Clijsters Wins Hasselt, Heads To Madrid On Winning Note
HASSELT, Belgium - It didn't come easily, but Kim Clijsters put the finishing
touches on a winning return from injury Sunday, beating surprise finalist
Kaia Kanepi, 63 36 64, for the 2006 Gaz de France Stars trophy. It was her
third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title of the year, and the 33rd of her
career.
After what was mostly a forgettable second half of the season for Clijsters,
who was forced to withdraw from her US Open title defense as well as from most
of the indoor season due to a left wrist injury suffered in Montréal, the
title run in Hasselt was just what was needed to provide an all-important
boost for next week's Sony Ericsson Championships. She dropped just 11 games
in her first three rounds, then made the final with a clutch 64 36 64 semifinal
win over game former Top 10 player Vera Zvonareva.
Sunday's outcome was expected, but the means by which it was reached was, to
many, a complete surprise. Kanepi used every inch of her 5' 11" frame,
cracking returns and staying aggressive throughout all three sets against the
top-seeded Clijsters, her first Top 10 opponent. But the Belgian used all her
experience to pull out the win over the tournament's Cinderella story in the
end.
"She was hitting the ball hard, going for the lines, and returning extremely
well, which surprised me the most," Clijsters said afterwards. "Sometimes,
there are players without the experience who can play well for a set or so,
but she kept it up. It's great to see, and she has a really good future ahead
of her.
"I had to play my best tennis at the end to get through."
Kanepi notched a plethora of firsts during her runner-up showing this past
week: she was the first Estonian to reach a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles
final; she beat her first Top 20 player, No.2-seeded 2005 finalist Francesca
Schiavone; and she also became just the second qualifier this year to make a
Tour singles final (after Austrian teenager Tamira Paszek qualified then went
on to win in Portoroz).
Needless to say, the 21-year-old was excited with her performance in the final.
"She hits her forehand so well on the run, is so quick and gets more balls
back than anyone else, so it's not easy to win points against her. But I think
I played really well, and was returning well. Although it was my first match
against a Top 10 player and first final, I wasn't nervous. I had fun - that's
why I played well."
Kanepi, who is No.91 in the world now but will rise on Monday's new rankings,
is part of an Estonian rise that has been quietly brewing throughout this past
year. She and her compatriot, Maret Ani, were both ranked inside the Top 65
earlier in the year, sparking the growth of the sport back home.
"Estonia is a small country and tennis is so big around around the world but
when Maret and I made the Top 100 it started growing quite fast. Now they
know that they can do it too. They're building more courts and everyone is
getting more interested in tennis. And I believe I can do more now; I'm looking
forward to it."
Clijsters was one of the last to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Championships
(along with Martina Hingis), and she now heads to the season-ending event,
where she has twice hoisted the trophy, on a five-match Hasselt win streak.
"I'm happy to play what to me is the best tournament of the year. It's
something I take very seriously. It's a great event, always organized really
well, and very prestigious."
Raymond and Stosur also off to Madrid on winning note
In the Gaz de France Stars doubles competition, the world's top-ranked tandem,
Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, capped a dominant title run straight after the singles final with a 62 63 championship victory over Eleni Daniilidou and Jasmin Woehr. The title is their ninth of the year following victories earlier in the season at Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Memphis, Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston and Roland Garros, and fall season wins at Stuttgart and Linz.
Raymond and Stosur were barely challenged throughout their week in Hasselt.
The top seeds, they dropped just seven games against two unseeded teams to
begin, then took control after an early scare to defeat No.3 seeds Barbora
Strycova and Andreea Vanc, 75 61, in the semifinals. Daniilidou and Woehr
were also unseeded, having beaten No.2 seeds Vera Dushevina and Mara
Santangelo and No.4 seed Kateryna Bondarenko and Yuliana Fedak en route to the
final.
Raymond and Stosur will also be the top seeds, as well as defending champions, at next week's season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid.
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