CRUSHES WEARY HENIN IN STRAIGHT SETS

Is Clijsters capable of taking the WTA title from the Williamses?

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE HOME DEPOT CHAMPIONSHIPS – If fifth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium continues to play at the level that saw her humiliate her countrywoman, Justine Henin, 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the $3 million Home Depot Championships on Friday, she has a very good chance of challenging for the title.

That can't be said of too many players left in the draw, with the obvious exception of No. 1 Serena and partial exceptions of Venus and Jennifer Capriati. Title runs by Monica Seles, Maggie Maleeva or Jelena Dokic would be simply stunning.

But in earning herself a potential match up against second seed Venus, Clijsters was the fast, strong, consistent, lethal with her forehand and deadly with her first serve. She completely overwhelmed the dead-legged Henin by adeptly controlling the center of the court.

"It's the most consistent and solid I've played against her," said Clijsters. "I never made the little errors that would allow her back into the match."

The two played an entertaining first six games of the contest, but after Clijsters broke her to 2-1, Henin was unable to break back when she committed an unforced error. Henin held another break point down 2-3, but Clijsters ripped a forehand crosscourt winner, causing Henin to bang her racket on the floor.

Henin than began to completely unravel, ending the contest with 33 unforced errors and only five winners. The 19-year-old Clijsters broke Henin five times, clubbed 15 winners and only committed 22 unforced errors.

"Maybe that was the worst I've ever played against her," said Henin, who is now 2-5 against Clijsters. "She played solid and has played well in the last few tournaments. She played much better than me."

HENIN: EXHAUSTED FROM LONG SEASON
Henin, who will be married to her fiancé Pierre Yves Hardennes next week, said that she's exhausted from a long season and that the stress from her impending nuptials had nothing to do with her poor performance.

"I completely forgotten that I'm getting married next week," Henin said. "That's not the reason. I was really tried throughout the match. I could feel that least in the first game, I was sweating a lot and that's not normal."

Clijsters – who will attend Henin's wedding in the south of France – will now the winner of the Venus-Monica Seles match. The Belgian has a 1-3 record against Williams and has already played her three times his year: beating her in three-setter on clay in the finals of Hamburg; losing to her on hard courts in straight sets in the Stanford final; and falling to her a tight three set quarterfinal in San Diego.

As was noted before both of Clijsters matches against Venus at Stanford and Palo Alto and San Diego, she's one of the few players on tour who's athletic and powerful enough to hang with the Williamses. It's her mental and strategic game that is suspect. Now that her shoulder is 100 percent, she should be able to keep Venus off her back should she serve well. She's mentally fresher than Venus is at this point, so should Venus survive Seles on Friday night – no sure thing – she's ripe for Kim to take a bite out of her.

"The mental part is the most important thing and it's hard for me to say what Venus thinks on court," Clijsters said. "I know I'll have to go out there and fight for every ball, not only the tennis part, but also mentally. I have to be ready for every shot and I have to know when she's on, I can't worry about it. … I've beaten her before, so I don't have to be afraid."

FIRST SERVE COMES FIRST
Clijsters says that one of the keys to victory will be her first serve percentage, which let her down in the third set of San Diego. Giving Venus any wiggle room is like letting a Great White out of a shark tank.

"You have to be ready from the beginning because that's where they can really finish off a match if [the Williamses] feel your not focused or aggressive," Clijsters said. "I can rally with Venus and return her serves but if she's on, it's always tough."

Should Monica Seles happened to shock Venus – who wiped her out at the US Open – Clijsters will also face a stiff test, because she's 0-1 against Seles, losing to a three-setter to her this spring in Miami.

But unlike at least half the field here who showed up whining about how tired they are from the long season despite setting their own schedules and earning record prize money (Henin banked $99,000 for her desultory effort), Clijsters appears as motivated and spry as kindergarten student about to receive her first art award.
"Maybe some of the other players are looking to go home," Clijsters said. "Maybe that's why they are getting a little tired. But I want to end the year well. I'm really motivated to finish the year on a good note.