CBSSports.com: Mommy dearest: Clijsters caps amazing two-week run at U.S. Open
By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com
NEW YORK -- Mamma mia, can that young lady play tennis.
In a summer of marvelous sports stories, from Tom Watson's great run at the British Open to Derek Jeter overtaking Lou Gehrig as the Yankees' all-time hit leader to the ascent of Melanie Oudin, maybe nothing compares to that of Kim Clijsters.
Out of competition for two years to marry and give birth, Clijsters stepped from the past, an accidental tourist with an effective forehand, and won the U.S. Open.
In a match no one would have foreseen two weeks ago when this tournament began, Clijsters on Sunday night defeated teenager Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5, 6-3, then fell to the court in tearful bliss.
A tournament that's been battered by a literal storm, rain delaying the women's final 24 hours, and a figurative one, the expletive-filled tirade by Serena Williams in losing her semifinal to Clijsters, came to a poignant conclusion before 23,351 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Among those fans, in the loosest definition of the word, was Clijsters' 18-month-old daughter, Jada Elly, happily chomping on a pacifier in a nanny's lap while her mother overcame Wozniacki's offsetting moon balls.
In a sense, this also was a title defense for the 26-year-old Clijsters, the Belgian who won the championship in 2005, was unable to defend in 2006 and then retired from tennis in 2007. Or so she thought.
But after playing in a requested exhibition last spring with Tim Henman against husband and wife Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff to inaugurate the new roof at Wimbledon, Clijsters remembered the joy of the game, hustled to get into shape and returned to the women's tour -- with child and husband Brian Lynch along for the ride.
This U.S. Open was only her third tournament after the comeback -- she was able to enter on a wild card given because of her reputation by the U.S. Tennis Association. Then she wins. It's a script too unbelievable but very acceptable.
"I don't have words for this," said Clijsters, who then joked, "I'm just glad I got to come back to defend my title of 2005.
"This is so exciting for me. This was not really in our plan. I just wanted to get back into the rhythm of playing tennis. I have to thank the USTA for giving me the wild card to come back here."
Wozniacki, the first Danish woman to get to a Grand Slam final, was the No. 9 seed. She's a fashion-model blonde who enjoys the attention and plays a counter-punching game that threw off Clijsters for a while. The 19-year-old Wozniacki won four straight games in the first set.
But she was in uncharted territory. And even if Wozniacki had played and won more matches on tour in the last year while Clijsters only a few months ago was playing housewife, not tennis, Kim's experience showed. Winners never lose the skill or the drive that made them winners.
Four other mothers had previously won Grand Slams: Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, Sarah Palfrey Cooke, Margaret Court and, in 1980, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
"I didn't think it could happen again," said Mary Carillo, the astute TV commentator. "But it did. Amazing."
Because of the weather problems, both women's semis were held simultaneously late Saturday night. And while Clijsters was beating Serena on Ashe, Wozniacki was whipping Yanina Wickmayer next door at Louis Armstrong Stadium -- before only 500 fans.
So, before a very full house at Ashe, she thanked the crowd, in English, Danish and Polish -- her parents immigrated from Poland before she was born. Then, maybe feeling sympathetic to Wozniacki or maybe just a bit confused, USTA president Lucy Garvin introduced Wozniacki as the champion, drawing chuckles from both Wozniacki and Clijsters.
Clijsters earned $1.6 million for the victory and said, understandably, it's been a great two weeks in New York but she couldn't wait to return to the domestic life.
"It's the greatest feeling, being a mother," said Clijsters. "I just can't wait to spend the next few weeks with [Jada]. We tried to plan her nap a little later today.
"When I played my first round here two weeks ago, it meant so much to me. How warm the people were. It embarrassed me. But it helped me keep my focus. I had to keep fighting, especially the last few matches."
On the way, Clijsters, unseeded, defeated both the Williams sisters, Venus in a strange fourth-round match with a 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 score, and then Serena in an even stranger match, Serena losing because of a code violation for cursing a line judge. That was enough drama for a while.
Before she won the 2005 Open, Clijsters was known as someone who collapsed under pressure. And Sunday night she admitted to a bit of nerves during the final game.
She overcame those nerves and the two-year layoff. She's the once and current champ and arguably the mother of the year.
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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12201999
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com
NEW YORK -- Mamma mia, can that young lady play tennis.
In a summer of marvelous sports stories, from Tom Watson's great run at the British Open to Derek Jeter overtaking Lou Gehrig as the Yankees' all-time hit leader to the ascent of Melanie Oudin, maybe nothing compares to that of Kim Clijsters.
Out of competition for two years to marry and give birth, Clijsters stepped from the past, an accidental tourist with an effective forehand, and won the U.S. Open.
In a match no one would have foreseen two weeks ago when this tournament began, Clijsters on Sunday night defeated teenager Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5, 6-3, then fell to the court in tearful bliss.
A tournament that's been battered by a literal storm, rain delaying the women's final 24 hours, and a figurative one, the expletive-filled tirade by Serena Williams in losing her semifinal to Clijsters, came to a poignant conclusion before 23,351 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Among those fans, in the loosest definition of the word, was Clijsters' 18-month-old daughter, Jada Elly, happily chomping on a pacifier in a nanny's lap while her mother overcame Wozniacki's offsetting moon balls.
In a sense, this also was a title defense for the 26-year-old Clijsters, the Belgian who won the championship in 2005, was unable to defend in 2006 and then retired from tennis in 2007. Or so she thought.
But after playing in a requested exhibition last spring with Tim Henman against husband and wife Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff to inaugurate the new roof at Wimbledon, Clijsters remembered the joy of the game, hustled to get into shape and returned to the women's tour -- with child and husband Brian Lynch along for the ride.
This U.S. Open was only her third tournament after the comeback -- she was able to enter on a wild card given because of her reputation by the U.S. Tennis Association. Then she wins. It's a script too unbelievable but very acceptable.
"I don't have words for this," said Clijsters, who then joked, "I'm just glad I got to come back to defend my title of 2005.
"This is so exciting for me. This was not really in our plan. I just wanted to get back into the rhythm of playing tennis. I have to thank the USTA for giving me the wild card to come back here."
Wozniacki, the first Danish woman to get to a Grand Slam final, was the No. 9 seed. She's a fashion-model blonde who enjoys the attention and plays a counter-punching game that threw off Clijsters for a while. The 19-year-old Wozniacki won four straight games in the first set.
But she was in uncharted territory. And even if Wozniacki had played and won more matches on tour in the last year while Clijsters only a few months ago was playing housewife, not tennis, Kim's experience showed. Winners never lose the skill or the drive that made them winners.
Four other mothers had previously won Grand Slams: Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, Sarah Palfrey Cooke, Margaret Court and, in 1980, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
"I didn't think it could happen again," said Mary Carillo, the astute TV commentator. "But it did. Amazing."
Because of the weather problems, both women's semis were held simultaneously late Saturday night. And while Clijsters was beating Serena on Ashe, Wozniacki was whipping Yanina Wickmayer next door at Louis Armstrong Stadium -- before only 500 fans.
So, before a very full house at Ashe, she thanked the crowd, in English, Danish and Polish -- her parents immigrated from Poland before she was born. Then, maybe feeling sympathetic to Wozniacki or maybe just a bit confused, USTA president Lucy Garvin introduced Wozniacki as the champion, drawing chuckles from both Wozniacki and Clijsters.
Clijsters earned $1.6 million for the victory and said, understandably, it's been a great two weeks in New York but she couldn't wait to return to the domestic life.
"It's the greatest feeling, being a mother," said Clijsters. "I just can't wait to spend the next few weeks with [Jada]. We tried to plan her nap a little later today.
"When I played my first round here two weeks ago, it meant so much to me. How warm the people were. It embarrassed me. But it helped me keep my focus. I had to keep fighting, especially the last few matches."
On the way, Clijsters, unseeded, defeated both the Williams sisters, Venus in a strange fourth-round match with a 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 score, and then Serena in an even stranger match, Serena losing because of a code violation for cursing a line judge. That was enough drama for a while.
Before she won the 2005 Open, Clijsters was known as someone who collapsed under pressure. And Sunday night she admitted to a bit of nerves during the final game.
She overcame those nerves and the two-year layoff. She's the once and current champ and arguably the mother of the year.
- - - - - -
http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12201999
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.