Kim Clijsters Wins Second-straight U.S. Open Title

Kim Clijsters of Belgium successfully defended her U.S. Open women's title

Kim Clijsters of Belgium successfully defended her U.S. Open women's title on Saturday after beating seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, in the most dominating final in more than three decades.

The 27-year-old Clijsters had 17 wins with just 15 unforced errors against the Russian to equal the three games lost by American Chris Evert who beat Australian Evonne Goolagong, 6-3, 6-0, in the 1976 final.

Clijsters pushed her U.S. Open match victories to 21 straight, winning the title in 2005 before missing  three years because of injury and family reasons.

“It's been an incredible year, being back in the Open and for the first time I'm able to defend my title,” Clijsters said at the awarding ceremony.

The second-seeded Belgian had little trouble winning the first set in 27 minutes after breaking serve twice. Zvonareva, playing in her first U.S. Open final, committed a double fault and three unforced errors to allow Clijsters to break.

Zvonareva's backhand shot went into the net giving Clijsters the set.

The Russian again double-faulted during the sixth game of the second set putting Clijsters two breaks up, and clinched the set and match with a forehand winner in the following game.

Lasting only 59 minutes, it was the shortest women's final since record-keeping began in 1980.

“Kim just played tremendously well today. She deserved to win,” said the Russian, who cried at the end of the match, seemingly overwhelmed by Clijsters blistering ground strokes and her own unforced errors.

“A little bit of experience definitely helps. She has improved so much,” said Clijsters regarding Zvonareva.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Sunday September 12 2010, 9:43 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0