Clijsters takes on Wozniacki in final
Source: Agencies |
November 1, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
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KIM Clijsters took time to settle after a "scary" car crash on the way to her WTA Championships semifinal against Samantha Stosur on Saturday, but there was no stopping the Belgian once she clicked into top gear.
The 27-year-old US Open champion beat Stosur 7-6 (3), 6-1 to reach the final of the US$4.55 million tournament in the Qatari capital Doha, where she will face Caroline Wozniacki after the world No. 1 blitzed Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-0 in the other semi.
Clijsters, who said on her Twitter site that she was "very lucky" to escape unhurt from the crash, lost the opening three games of the first set and had to fight off a set point before taking it in a tiebreak.
"Samantha and I have had some really tough matches against one another throughout our whole careers so I knew that I had to be ready to come out here and try and play my best," Clijsters said in a courtside interview.
"I played well at the important points and I think that's why I won the first set. In the second set I felt maybe she dropped her game a little bit."
Stosur has enjoyed a breakthrough singles season, reaching the final of the French Open and rising to a career-high fifth in the world earlier this year, but the 26-year-old Brisbane native found Clijsters too hot to handle.
Producing some of her best tennis of the tournament, Clijsters raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set as Stosur wilted in the face of the Belgian's searing serve and consistent groundstrokes.
Same weapon
It will be Clijsters's third appearance in the final. She won in 2002 and 2003.
In a match-up of the world's top two, Wozniacki and Zvonareva were in danger of tiring themselves out in a titanic 12-minute opening game in which the Dane fought off a string of break points before holding serve.
That seemed to take the wind out of Zvonareva's sails, and she quickly went 1-4 down with the set looking beyond her. However, the Russian steadied and had two set points at 5-4 with Wozniacki suddenly vulnerable.
At 20 Wozniacki is the youngest competitor in the field but she showed great composure to save the set and turn the tables on Zvonareva, leveling at 5-5 before going on to seal the set 7-5.
Zvonareva, once again donning the Qatari colors of maroon and white, had just dropped her first set of the tournament.
It was not long before she dropped her second.
Meanwhile, the WTA Tour is counting on the Asia-Pacific region to boost its international growth, and putting great hope in China's ability to produce more elite players.
Bolstered by a new sponsorship deal with a Chinese sporting goods firm, WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster yesterday called the country "an important strategic growth project for us."
Allaster praised organizers of the China Open and said the tournament facilities in Beijing were outstanding. But she admitted there was "plenty of education" to do to get more Chinese people excited about tennis.
The 27-year-old US Open champion beat Stosur 7-6 (3), 6-1 to reach the final of the US$4.55 million tournament in the Qatari capital Doha, where she will face Caroline Wozniacki after the world No. 1 blitzed Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-0 in the other semi.
Clijsters, who said on her Twitter site that she was "very lucky" to escape unhurt from the crash, lost the opening three games of the first set and had to fight off a set point before taking it in a tiebreak.
"Samantha and I have had some really tough matches against one another throughout our whole careers so I knew that I had to be ready to come out here and try and play my best," Clijsters said in a courtside interview.
"I played well at the important points and I think that's why I won the first set. In the second set I felt maybe she dropped her game a little bit."
Stosur has enjoyed a breakthrough singles season, reaching the final of the French Open and rising to a career-high fifth in the world earlier this year, but the 26-year-old Brisbane native found Clijsters too hot to handle.
Producing some of her best tennis of the tournament, Clijsters raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set as Stosur wilted in the face of the Belgian's searing serve and consistent groundstrokes.
Same weapon
It will be Clijsters's third appearance in the final. She won in 2002 and 2003.
In a match-up of the world's top two, Wozniacki and Zvonareva were in danger of tiring themselves out in a titanic 12-minute opening game in which the Dane fought off a string of break points before holding serve.
That seemed to take the wind out of Zvonareva's sails, and she quickly went 1-4 down with the set looking beyond her. However, the Russian steadied and had two set points at 5-4 with Wozniacki suddenly vulnerable.
At 20 Wozniacki is the youngest competitor in the field but she showed great composure to save the set and turn the tables on Zvonareva, leveling at 5-5 before going on to seal the set 7-5.
Zvonareva, once again donning the Qatari colors of maroon and white, had just dropped her first set of the tournament.
It was not long before she dropped her second.
Meanwhile, the WTA Tour is counting on the Asia-Pacific region to boost its international growth, and putting great hope in China's ability to produce more elite players.
Bolstered by a new sponsorship deal with a Chinese sporting goods firm, WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster yesterday called the country "an important strategic growth project for us."
Allaster praised organizers of the China Open and said the tournament facilities in Beijing were outstanding. But she admitted there was "plenty of education" to do to get more Chinese people excited about tennis.
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