SMASHES THROUGH SERENA AS WTA CHAMP

Kim Clijsters comes of age

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM THE HOME DEPOT CHAMPIONSHIPS – It was only three months ago that Kim Clijsters was saying that the only way she could beat a Williams was on one of their off days.

The 19-year-old Belgian who showed up at the $3 million Home Depot Championships on Monday was an entirely different person: a confident, aggressive, smart more self aware player who knew that her best could match Serena's best and if Serena was a little slow, it would be she who would take home the winner's check.

"I know that if I play my best and I keep my consistency up throughout the whole match, I knew I was close to getting close against them," Clijsters said. "It all comes down to a few points. I knew if I played my best, I can do it."

That's why Clijsters knocked out four-time Grand Slam champion Williams 7-5, 6-3.
The super-modest Clijsters now knows that her best belongs with the elite.

"If I play well, I think I belong there," said the 19-year-old Clijsters. "But there are a lot of other players who belong there as well. … If I have a consistent year and I'm injury free, I think I'm capable of staying in the top five."

She's more than capable of staying in the top five; she's capable of pushing Serena for the top spot sometime in the next year should she keep progressing at the same rate. Serena ended the year ranked No. 1 while Clijsters is projected to finish at No. 4, behind No. 2 Venus Williams, No. 3 Jennifer Capriati and ahead of countrywoman Justine Henin, who is ranked fifth.

KIM CAN SURPASS JENNIFER
Right now, you have to like Clijsters' prospects a little better than Capriati's in 2003 and maybe more than Venus', because her serve is much more a weapon than Jennifer's, she's just as fast and is playing smarter. While Venus is a more powerful and accomplished player, Kim seems to have more motivation at this point.

"Venus and Serena have played so well these last few years and have been up there," Clijsters said. "It's nice for other players to see that they are beatable and I think that will motivate some other players."

Like her boyfriend, Lleyton Hewitt, Clijsters is the ultimate gym rat so given good health, expect her to avoid the nightlife, glitter and glamour and spend most of her time fine tuning her game.

"She's always done really well, had a lot of talent," said the tired Serena, who will spend the next few weeks auditioning for movies. "We've had some pretty good matches. She obviously has a very good future. We'll see what next year will bring. I think she'll do really well."

Clijsters won three out of her last four tournaments and stopped Serena's 18-match winning streak. One reason why is because Serena didn't train hard for the event, which is maybe why she was sucking wind in the second set. "I'm not going to kid myself and say I worked super hard, but imagine if I did," Serena said.

PRESSURE FORCES WILLIAMS' ERRORS
Clijsters was 0-5 against Williams going into the match, but showed little fear of her opponent. She went down a break in the first set and, just when you expected to Serena to serve out the set at 5-4, Williams cracked. Kim broke her to 5-5 when she forced her into a backhand error.

With Williams serving at 5-6 and deuce, Clijsters chased down a hard overhead smash and forced Williams into an error. On set point, Williams dumped a forehand into the net. At that point, Kim knew she could out-leg Serena.

"I was just going to try to bring as many balls back as I could," Clijsters said. "I tried to make her make the mistakes. I didn't worry about if she hit a few aces. Don't show any emotions. That's when they can read how you're feeling and that's when they push you a little extra. That's what I did and it worked."

Clijsters broke Williams at love to go ahead 4-2 in the second set and in the match's final game with Clijsters serving, the Belgian smoked a service winner and then won the contest with a forehand down the line.

Clijsters then parked a ball into the crowd and beamed in delight.

"This is my biggest win, "Clijsters said. "It's still pretty amazing to me to realize all I have achieved. I'm only 19. It's incredible."