THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, NO. 40

The tour sans Serena: Who is the next crossover star?
Clijsters has No. 1 in her sights; Lindsay: 'Kim's probably the best player on the tour that can be offensive and defensive'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

© Mark Lyons

FROM THE ACURA CLASSIC IN CARLSBAD, CALIF. – Serena Williams has been the WTA tour's No. 1 celebrity for the past year: part amazing tennis player, part eye-popping entertainer, part visible party girl. Who else could convince Keyshawn Johnson of all people to go to Benihana's the night after she won Wimbledon rather than going to a more upscale, visible restaurant.

The Spectacular Serena, that's who.

That Serena will miss the next six to eight weeks and the US Open due to knee surgery is harrowing news for the tour. Sure, there are a number of folks out there who have grown tried of her dominating the Slams (five out of the past six, thank you), but it's hard to find anyone who's grown exhausted of how much publicity she has brought women's tennis via her zany and sexy cat suit, her countless cover shots on lifestyle magazine's, her hobnobbing with A-list celebrities, her frequent appearances on talk shows and her budding acting career.

Who will replace primetime Serena under the spotlight? The introverted Venus certainly doesn't want to do it and Justine Henin-Hardenne is much more comfortable in Europe than in the US. That leaves soon-to-be No. 1 Kim Clijsters, who speaks excellent English and is nice and as pleasant as they come, but the Belgian is a dyed-in-the-wool jock and it's hard to see her doing the Leno-Letterman-Conan circuit.

Should Clijsters win the Acura Sunday over probable foe and countrywoman Justine Henin-Hardenne and advance deep into the JP Morgan Chase Open draw next week in Carson, Calif., she will become No. 1 for the first time, becoming the only woman No. 1 who hasn't won a Grand Slam. Will Clijsters undergo a radical change of personality? She says no and adds that she'll be willing to promote her sport.

"No matter what I am, I'm going to stay who I am," Clijsters said. "I won't change my personality. I won't feel special to any other people because I'm No. 1. If you see how [Pete] Sampras, [Andre] Agassi and Lleyton [Hewitt] did it, they all had to promote the sport and everyone looks up to them. That part can be nice, but on the other hand, the other players are so keen to beat you when you are on top and that's the tough part. But I'm not there yet. But if that happens, I'll enjoy everything. It's hard to know what will happen to me because I haven't had the experience yet."

It's obvious that Clijsters feels badly for a friend. She wanted to call Serena when she heard the news, but says that Serena changes her cellular number so much that it's tough to locate her.

"You don't wish it on anyone, especially Serena," Clijsters said. "What she's done for women's tennis is incredible. I know how bad I felt when I couldn't play because of my shoulder and she has the US Open coming up and is the defending champion. It must be very hard for her."

Clijsters has No. 1 in her sights
Of course, Clijsters has to get to No. 1 first, which shouldn't be too difficult given her level of play over the past 12 days. But it is no lock if she loses early in Carson. Then she'll have to wait until the US Open and should she lose early and Henin-Hardenne has a good next three weeks wins the Open title, Justine could go to No. 1.

We've written volumes on how much Clijsters has improved since the hardcourt season kicked off at Stanford, but it's still worth empathizing how much better the Belgian is serving than she was last year and how remarkable her defense is.

"There's no question she's probably the best player on the tour that can be offensive and defensive" Davenport said. "A lot of times you get players who are very good at one thing or another and she is very capable of both. She used to rely on her defense but now I think with her confidence, her offense has risen this year. That's one of the reasons she's moved up so high in the rankings."

The 20-year-old Clijsters nailed five aces and a handful of service winners against Davenport, who usually makes a living off her foe's second serves.

"I served really well and in all the previous matches I played her, I served well but not consistently," said Clijsters, who notched 28 winners overall to only 15 from Davenport. "Today I went for my second serves and took some risks, especially my flat one because if you hit with spin against her, it's right in her hitting zone and she can hit it clean and down the line. You have to mix it up so she doesn't get into a rhythm. … She moves the ball around better than anybody. She kind of keeps toying with you. She had my guessing on a lot of shots."

Like she did in her run to the Bank of the West title last week, Clijsters was quick, lethal and inexhaustible. Davenport grew extremely frustrated with her inability to hit through her foe, who slid effectively to retrieve blast after blast. Davenport frequently found herself bending low in no-man's land, trying to slap swing volleys. She missed sitter after sitter.

"I didn't always return deep or to the lines and she came in and missed some easy volleys that were close to the net," Clijsters said. "It's a matter of trying to bring each ball back and surprising her that they keep coming back. That's also what happened when I beat Serena at the Championships last year, she got surprised at the balls that were coming back and tried to finish it off too quickly. You could tell that Lindsay felt she had to do something more, had to go to the lines a little more, that she had to come up with better shots. She tried to serve and volley a little, tried to keep the rallies shorter, those are signs that she's not as comfortable out there. That's gives you a little bit of a boost of confidence when you know your opponent isn't that comfortable out there."

Lindsay: 'Kim's probably the best player on the tour that can be offensive and defensive'
Lindsay's game plan was to go into Clijsters forehand and hope it broke down, but it doesn't very often anymore. You have to extend Clijsters in long rallies to beat her and force her to hit winners. Davenport played way too impatiently.

"She's turned the corner on a lot of players she used to lose to," said Davenport, who has now lost to Clijsters five out of the last six times they have played. "She's smart and confidant. She's got a lot of things going for her right now. She's pretty close to her first Grand Slam."

Davenport played very well this week up until losing to Clijsters. She's still a half a step slow and isn't fighting like she used to. She said her nerve injury didn't bother her, so why she let at least eight balls go without running them down in disturbing. It shows that she left her battling spirit back home in Laguna Beach. Of course when you are playing the Belgian professor, it's easy to get discouraged. Kimmy is playing like she has ESP.

"I feel like I'm reading the game very well," Clijsters said. "I already know where my opponent is going to hit the ball before the already hit it. With my movement I never feel I'm in trouble, even if I play a few long rallies I'm never in trouble. I'm recovering quick after matches. It's always good not to have those things to worry about and you can last against those girls."