Kim Clijsters continued her incredible comeback run at the U.S. Open on Sunday when she upset No. 3 seed Venus Williams in a dramatic fourth-round showdown.
Clijsters and Williams split the first two sets with Clijsters winning the first set 6–0 and Venus returning the favor in the second. A lengthy third set, which Clijsters won 6–4, took longer to play than the first two sets combined, and ended Venus Williams’s run at the U.S. Open.
The 2009 U.S. Open is only the third tournament for the unranked Clijsters in her comeback after two years away from tennis. She won the U.S. Open title in 2005 but needed a wildcard to gain entry to this year’s tournament.
Clijsters broke Williams early in the third set and managed to hang on for the victory. She fought off two break points in her final service game.
Williams, whose heavily bandaged left knee drew many questions from the media, fought through the discomfort and went on to win a doubles match with sister Serena later in the evening.
“I know today that Venus wasn’t playing her best tennis,” said Clijsters in an interview with the media after the match.
“But there’s a lot of other things personally that I’m taking out of this match. That’s just the mental strength that I kept focusing on…I was just trying to regroup [after losing the second set 6–0].”
The third set featured a lot of hard hitting with Clijsters retrieving almost everything Williams could throw at her. Fans cheered Clijsters’s efforts as she slid on the Ashe stadium hard court as if it was a clay court. Clijsters came close on a few occasions to doing the splits as she stretched and fought to retrieve every ball.
Better Balance
Clijsters spoke about her decision to retire. “I think it was a combination both of physically and mentally that was kind of just a little bit tired of it.
“I had other things in my mind that I wanted to achieve as a woman and as a person. That made me not be so disciplined anymore in my tennis career.”
Now as a mother, Clijsters enjoys a better balance in her life. “Tennis is a great sport. We’re happy we can have a family and balance both.
“To my daughter, it doesn’t matter whether I win or lose. She’s just happy to see me.”
Clijsters will next face China’s Li Na in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Men’s No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal won in straight sets over childhood friend Nicolas Almagro 7–5, 6–4, 6–4 in third round action.
The four-time French Open champion suffered an abdominal muscle strain in the third set, which required a visit from the trainer. Nadal is also recovering from tendonitis in both knees.
Nadal faces France’s Gael Monfils in the fourth round on Tuesday.
Serena Williams gave Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova a tennis lesson in the first match on Ashe Stadium, winning 6–2, 6–0.
Williams will next face Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, the No. 10 seed, who won 3–6, 7–6, 6–0 over the No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva.
Williams, the strong favorite for the U.S. Open, cannot take over the No. 1 ranking even if she wins the tournament, despite top-rankedDinara Safina’s loss on Saturday night. Safina will hang on to the top ranking in women’s tennis after the U.S. Open without having won a grand slam singles title.
