[網球] LIJSTERS WINS WOMEN'S US OPEN IN RETURN FROM RETIREMENT

NEW YORK - Kim Clijsters cradled the baby in one arm, the trophy in the other.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb- y" e0 v$ o* }% f$ X5 F5 d0 d$ v/ f6 |
The joy of motherhood. The joy of winning the U.S. Open.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。+ o$ H j) \+ j$ g: w7 X
Clijsters made history Sunday night, capping a comeback from twoyears out of tennis to become the first unseeded woman to win the Open-- and the first mom to win a major since 1980 -- with a 7-5, 6-3victory over No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki.
When it was over, Clijsters collapsed to the ground and startedcrying -- tears of joy, probably mixed in with a little bit of shock,too. Her 18-month-old daughter, Jada, watched from a suite with apacifier in her mouth, but later came down to the court to take part inthe celebration.4 P3 Y5 Z, K; n/ t
"It still seems so surreal," Clijsters said. "Because it wasn't inthe plan. I wanted to come back here, get a feel for it, play a GrandSlam so I wouldn't have to come back next year and learn the newexperiences all over."
Talk about your quick transitions.
It was all quite a different scene from the night before, whenClijsters' semifinal win over Serena Williams was closed out on a footfault, an outburst and a point penalty, and the 26-year-old Belgianstood behind the baseline, looking bewildered as Williams ran over toshake her hand.
Williams' tirade may have been the talk of the U.S. Open. But Clijsters was the winner.
This was her second U.S. Open title, the other coming in 2005 -- herlast appearance at Flushing Meadows and before a spate of nagginginjuries eventually drove her out of the sport and led her to start afamily. These days, she has her baby's name tattooed on her left wrist,near the scar from an operation she needed back in her first career.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。( c9 a1 f7 G. I$ g
When she came back, she was "starting from zero," she said. The work to get back in shape was not pretty.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。# A" s, b& L; Z3 }
"No swear words like Serena yesterday, but a lot of swearing at home," Clijsters said.
Some might have called this the mother of all upsets, but by thetime she reached the final, against the resilient-but-still-learning19-year-old from Denmark, it was hard to view it that way.
Clijsters beat both Williams sisters and two players seeded in theteens. She matched Venus and Serena power shot for power shot andshowed she could play Wozniacki's patient game -- and play it better.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。$ Q/ r9 P6 u; O8 n8 ^* m# U
"She's playing because she thinks it's fun and because she likesit," said Wozniacki, who is too young to have played Clijsters duringher first career. "I really think she might be a better player now thanshe was before."
This one was nothing like the Williams match -- before it turnedsour -- which was filled with short, hard-hitting rallies in whichClijsters moved one of tennis' best players at will and made her hitshots from places she normally doesn't.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。! \- l) G8 h2 ~( k5 y1 \3 m' H: Q
Instead, it was a waiting game, and when Clijsters fell behind 4-2 in the first set, she showed she was willing to play it.
A 29-shot rally here, a 25-shot rally there. Drop shots and lobs.Clijsters did that. Went for more, too, and finished with two morewinners than unforced errors (36-34) -- a good ratio on any day -- and26 more winners than Wozniacki.5.39.217.761 R0 ~) e) \( q5 b7 x& }: T, o! c
"Against the Williams sisters, you feel if you hang in there, theymight give you some easy points," Clijsters said. "She didn't do that.You had to be patient, but not play along with her game."
After getting back on serve, Clijsters held off two break points at5-5, then broke Wozniacki for the fourth time to win the first set. Thesecond set was easier and before they knew it, Jada was on the courtposing for photographers.
Clijsters didn't even have a ranking coming into this tournamentbecause she hadn't played enough tournaments to get on the list. She'llcome in at around No. 20 when the new rankings are released this week,but probably won't try to improve on that right away.
"It's the greatest feeling in the world being a mother," she said."I just can't wait to spend next the few weeks with her and have herroutine schedule at home again.". K/ @( D# U& ^% R: c- n3 i8 Q
Her victory, a few hours after watching "Ice Age" with Jada duringsome quality time, came over the first Danish player to reach a GrandSlam final. But Wozniacki's greater claim to fame is that she has wonmore matches on tour this year than anyone.
She played like a winner over two weeks in Flushing Meadows,including that 6-2, 6-2 victory that ended the magical run of17-year-old Melanie Oudin, whose rapid rise was the story of thetournament for the first 10 days.
Oudin left, then the Williams imbroglio took over.
Clijsters made her headlines, too. The mother-on-a-comeback story was a winner all the way.
Beneath the surface of all these stories might also be a referendumon the state of women's tennis. If an unseeded mother who has been awayfrom the game for two years can beat five top-20 players and win theU.S. Open, maybe the talent pool isn't so deep.
In fact, stories have circulated recently that another Belgian,former No. 1 Justine Henin, might be also been thinking about acomeback.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。2 u. U/ L; E+ z0 R6 [3 u
Could Evonne Goolagong Cawley be far behind? She was the last mother to win one of these Grand Slams, back in 1980 at Wimbledon.
Clijsters last major title isn't that sort of ancient history. Itwas only four years ago that she climbed into the stands andtightrope-walked across the railings to celebrate her first U.S. Opentitle.* D6 n" A% v8 ?" ]. a
Same scene this time but with a few new characters in the mix. Therewas her husband, American Brian Lynch, with whom she shared a long,sweet kiss. Then there was Jada, clapping her hands.
"We tried to plan her nap time a little later today so she could be here," Clijsters said.' T( E$ |! t K( M% N
Looks like she's getting the hang of that motherhood thing, too.

收藏分享評分

回復引用

訂閱 TOP

返回列表