B8A9ACBE-F3F1-462E-A5A1-995E21B8CFD7
By Richard Pagliaro
© Andy Kentla © Dave Saffran © Michael O'Kane
(September 11, 2010) Daughter Jada sat in the stands playfully pulling designer watches up her right wrist as if they were toy bracelets. On the court below, Jada's famous mother, sporting the same blond haystack hairstyle, turned the title match into child's play in issuing a tennis time-out to Vera Zvonareva. Playing with the speed of a dutiful mom determined to get her daughter home for bed time, Kim Clijsters crushed Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-1 to capture her third US Open championship.
It was the most lopsided women's final since Chris Evert dismantled Evonne Goolagong, 6-3, 6-0, in the 1976 final and the shortest women's final since the USTA has timed title matches (in some pre-Open Era years players did not sit down on changeovers, resulting in finals that lasted less than an hour).
"A little bit of experience definitely helps," said Clijsters, who collected the $1.7 champion's check plus a $500,000 bonus for finishing second in the US Open Series to Caroline Wozniacki, the woman she defeated in the 2009 final. "Last year was a lot more confusing not having played for so long. So it was kind of different emotions starting to the tournament. I was able to play, especially in my last two matches, at my highest level. Obviously you want to do well at the places you've done well before. I know if I played well and if I'm healthy I can beat any of the top players."
The second-seeded Belgian stretched her US Open winning streak to 21 matches, successfully defending her Flushing Meadows championship in dispensing her most comprehensive conquest of the tournament.
Give Clijsters 60 minutes (the official match time was 59 minutes) and she'll give you a major title. Clijsters completely overpowered and overwhelmed Zvonareva, who was helpless to slow a woman playing at the peak of her powers, and sobbed into her towel after the match. Zvonareva's eyes still glistened with tears as she spoke to the crowd following her second straight Grand Slam final loss.
"(I'm doing) a little bit better right now than 10 minutes ago when I was losing everything," Zvonareva said in bringing some levity to a humbling defeat. "Kim just played tremendously well today and she deserved to win. Even though I'm disappointed at the moment, I still love New York."
Zvonareva beat Clijsters in their last two meetings, scoring a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win in the Wimbledon quarterfinals and registering a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Montreal quarterfinals last month. The Wimbledon loss was particularly painful because it came after Clijsters defeated arch rival Justine Henin and appeared to be on course for a climactic clash with Serena Williams.
"I knew getting into the match which things were that I didn’t do well in the matches I lost," Clijsters said. "Obviously the one at Wimbledon was, to me one of the most disappointing losses that I’ve dealt with so far in my career."
Clijsters tried to overpower Zvonareva in those losses, this time she varied the height, speed and spin on her shots and applied relentless pressure with her fast feet and sliding, skidding splits.
"She's the type of player who is consistent and likes the pace and likes to take over the pace from opponents," Clijsters said. "I think today I was able to just mix it up well and just stay calm during the rally as well. Just put enough pressure and variety in there to throw up some high balls here and there. I think that just got her thinking even more just besides the fact that she was probably thinking about the occasion where she was playing and being in another final, which is always something that does have an effect on the way you feel, obviously."
Still, the seventh-seeded Russian got off to a solid start and played Clijsters on even terms through the first four games in forging a 2-all tie. Then the blowout began.
Clijsters found the sweet spot on her Babolat and began to blister the ball with such confidence the shots flowed like all the right answers on a standardized tests. Zvonareva plays a similar style to Clijsters, but the former World No. 1 is bigger, stronger, more athletic and does everything a bit better.
Clijsters held for 3-2 to ignite an imposing run that saw her reel off seven straight games and effectively put the match out of reach.
"Physically today she was just much better than me," Zvonareva said. "Physically, I was not capable of playing the same level as I was able to play yesterday....I tried my best out there. I gave 100%. I was not able to hang in there physically. Hopefully, I will have another chance."
Characteristically classy, Clijsters took time out to console Zvonareva before raising the shiny silver US Open title trophy. Clijsters, who dropped her first four major finals, is the only woman in Open Era history to lose her first four Grand Slam finals before winning one. She put that experience to good use in offering encouraging words to Zvonareva immediately after the match.
"I think she's a great person and she really knows how to be in those situations," Zvonareva said. "When she gives such support, it's great from her. She's a great champion, but also a great person. Maybe because she said that maybe I'm not so disappointed right now."
It was such a thorough thrashing coming in the aftermath of the Novak Djokovic's dramatic five-set semifinal victory over five-time US Open champion Roger Federer, Clijsters sounded slightly chagrined by the result that sent the masses, who had waited anxiously for the men's semifinal to end, streaming for the exits.
The 27-year-old Clijsters is the first woman since Venus Williams in 2001 to successfully defend the US Open championship and is the first woman to win three US Open titles in three consecutive appearances since Hall of Famer Chris Evert, who was in Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight, won four straight US Open crowns from 1975 to 78.
Clijsters, husband Brian Lynch, a former Villanova basketball star, and their daughter Jada call New Jersey home for several weeks each summer. The Belgian-born Jersey girl has dominated the largest Grand Slam stage in the world as if it's her own Garden State backyard.
When Clijsters beat Mary Pierce in the 2005 US Open final, to claim her first career Grand Slam title, she capped a commanding hard-court season in which she posted a 36-1 record on North American hard courts.
Returning to New York as a wild card last summer, she beat both Venus Williams and Serena Williams en route to the final before sweeping Caroline Wozniacki to capture the 2009 Open crown.
In the aftermath of that match, daughter Jada captured the hearts of fans playfully tugging at her mother's leg and pulling off the top of the silver title trophy as if it were part of her toy collection. Mother and daughter embraced again tonight and in the post-match interview Clijsters, who has already walked away from the game once and is well aware of how small the window of opportunity can be for champions, spoke about her desire to collect another major.
Widely respected for both her grace and game, Clijsters has become an adopted citizen of all four Grand Slam host cities. Formerly engaged to Lleyton Hewitt, she is revered as an honorary Aussie in Melbourne where some fans still call her "Aussie Kim". She reached her first Grand Slam final at the 2001 French Open, falling to Jennifer Capriati, 12-10, in the third set and with Belgium bordering France she remains a popular presence in Paris. Clijsters is so well respected at Wimbledon, the only major where she's yet to reach a final, the All England Club invited her to join Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Tim Henman to play the roof raising exhibition event in May of 2009.
"They all motivate you in a different way, obviously," Clijsters said. "Tactic-wise you always have to adjust a little bit to each and every single one of them. But I think the one where I've felt I can do better than I have is obviously the Australian Open. Similar surface. They've gone away from the Rebound Ace in the last couple of years. So I've always enjoyed playing there. That's obviously a Grand Slam I want to do well. I want to do well in all of them, of course."
Daughter Jada is two-and-half years old now and Clijsters says she wants to have more children in the coming years so the watch on her daughter's wrist is a reminder the career clock is ticking down.
"I would like to keep it going until the (2012) Olympics," Clijsters said. "But then again, you never know what can happen. My main goal is to try and just stay injury free. if I can do that and if I can practice hard and work hard obviously the Grand Slams will always be my focus. So now that I'm playing well obviously I'm not going to just give it up. I just want to keep it up."
Clijsters made quick work of Zvonareva tonight and plans to make the most of her time in achieving her aim of taking these successful New York Nights on the road and winning another Grand Slam title.
"I will try everything that I can to be in the best shape possible to try to achieve what I achieved here," said Clijsters, who then worked her way toward the door to take care of another important obligation: putting Jada to bed.