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STAN HONDA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES Kim Clijsters celebrates her 6-2, 6-1 win overVera Zvonareva that gives the Belgian, who won 58 of 89 points, threeU.S. Open titles. Clijsters is U.S. Open champ again
Belgian routs Zvonareva
in 59 minutes BY LIZ CLARKE
flushing meadows, n.y. — Vera Zvonareva waltzed into her first U.S. Open final without los- ing a set, toppling the tourna- ment’s top seed along the way and, for the most part, keeping her notoriously combustible emotions in check. But all those encouraging
signs of progress withered in the face of the unrelenting defense and determined drive of Kim Clijsters, who steamrolled to a thirdU.S. Open championship in just 59 minutes, defeating Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-1. It was the most lopsided U.S.
Open women’s final since 1976, when Chris Evert routed Evonne Goolagong, 6-3, 6-0. Clijsters takes home $2.2 mil-
lion for the achievement: a $1.7 million winner’s check (the same amount that will be awarded the winner of Sunday’s men’s final between RafaelNadal andNovak Djokovic, who ousted five-time champion Roger Federer in a five-set thriller earlier Saturday) and a $500,000 bonus for having finished second in the U.S. Open Series that precedes the season’s final major.
Both women wept during the
trophy presentation that fol- lowed: Zvonareva, for not having played a more competitive match; and Clijsters, in referenc- ing her late father as she thanked her husband, 2-year-old daugh- ter Jada, coaches, family mem- bers and friends for their support over the years. Clijsters’s career arc has been
both improbable and impressive. After reaching No. 1 in the world at age 20, she retired four years later to get married and start a family. Then, after a more than two-year hiatus, she returned to competitive tennis and won her second major, the 2009 U.S. Open, in just her third tourna- ment back as an unseeded wild card. Saturday night’s postmatch
celebration was reminiscent of the one a year ago, with Jada joining her mother on court and ogling the shiny trophy as Cli- jsters addressed the crowd. “I’ve enjoyed it,” Clijsters said.
“The conditions have been very hard these last two weeks, with the wind. I’ve always tried to keep her curls down,” she said with a laugh, running her fingers through Jada’s curly hair. “I’m only joking! I’ve always tried to bring my best. I’m glad to be standing here as the winner.New York is an amazing place for me. It has brought nothing but hap- piness to my tennis life. Thank you.”
Zvonareva, a 26-year-old Rus-
sian graduate student and Wim- bledon finalist, had been expect- ed to mount a much tougher fight. Shehadnotrouble dismiss- ing top-seeded Carolina Wozni- acki, 6-4, 6-3, on Thursday to advance to her second consecu- tive Grand Slam final. But againstClijsters, therewas
no trace of the shot-making, foot- work or confidence that had got- ten her this far. After breaking Zvonareva’s
serve in the sixth game, Clijsters reeled off the next five games with scant fight-back. During that streak, Zvonareva
bashed her racket on the court. But the outburst was restrained compared with the Russian’s fa- mous meltdown during her loss to Italy’s Flavia Pennetta at the U.S. Open last year. After failing to convert six
match points, she beat on her legs in frustration, smacked her- self in the head and was refused a pair of scissors by the chair um- pire when she sought to strip off the heavy bandages on both knees. Zvonareva’s effort Saturday
night lacked such histrionics. And as the match grew in- creasingly lop-sided, the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium fell si- lent, as if embarrassed for the Russian, whose wails and deject- ed posture telegraphed defeat on nearly every point. “People are shocked this is so
one-sided,” said four-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe, commenting on the match for CBS. “It’s taking the air out of the building.” There were few extended ral-
lies to cheer. But the crowd roared with approval when Zvonareva finally won a game in the second set. Zvonareva finished with six
winners and 24 unforced errors. Clijsters, for her part, broke
the Russian’s serve four times and won 58 of the match’s 89 points. Clijsters was gracious about
the beat-down, telling Zvonareva when they embraced at the net to keep with it,andthat good things would happen. “A little bit of experience defi-
nitely helps,” Clijsters said, in addressing the crowd. “I think it took me six or seven years of [reaching] finals before I finally got one. Vera, keep it going! You’re a great player, and it will happen.” Her eyes red from crying,
Zvonareva said: “Kim played tre- mendously well today. She de- served to win. Even though I’m disappointed at the moment, I still loveNewYork.” It has now been 15 years since
theU.S. Open has had a three-set women’s final. That year, in 1995, Steffi Graf defeated Monica Se- les, 7-6 (8-6), 0-6, 6-3.
clarkel@washpost.com
Nadal wins, but Djokovic topples Federer u.s. open from D1
stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium, whereDjokovichadlost toFeder- er in their three previous meet- ings, Djokovic crossed himself, dropped to his knees, kissed the court and then buried his head. “To be honest, I was just clos-
ingmy eyes and hitting the fore- hand as fast as I can on match point,” Djokovic explained dur- ing his on-court interview. “If it goes in, it goes in. If it goes out, another loss toFederer at theU.S. Open. I was very lucky.” The top-seededNadal, who re-
claimed the No. 1 ranking after winning a fifth French Open title in June, holds a 14-7 edge in his previous meetings with Djok- ovic. Nadal and Djokovic have nev-
er met at theU.S. Open. Nadal is seeking to become the
seventh man in history to com- plete a career Grand Slam, win- ning all of the sport’s four majors. He will be a strong favorite Sun- day, as the higher-ranked, high- er-seeded and clearly the fresher man. Nadal has yet to drop a set in
the tournament and met little resistance in defeating Youzhny, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Nadal had so much energy left after the 2-hour 13- minute workout that he did a pirouette in the air to celebrate. For multiple reasons, this is
Nadal’s best chance yet towinthe U.S. Open, after seven years of trying, because he arrived at the tournament physically fit and mentally fresh. That couldn’t be said the last
two years, when Nadal’s U.S. Opencampaign was halted in the semifinals. In his breakthrough 2008 season, in which hewonhis fourth French Open, his first Wimbledon, claimed the No. 1 ranking for the first time and wongold at the Beijing Olympics, Nadal arrived at the U.S. Open
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES
RafaelNadal serves toMikhail Youzhny in his straight-sets semifinal victory.However, in the second match, third-seededNovak Djokovic derailed aNo. 1 vs.No. 2matchup by ousting Roger Federer.
“mentally destroyed,” as he char- acterized it. In 2009, he battled tendonitis
and tore an abdominal muscle in mid-August, just weeks before the tournament began. Knee trouble forced Nadal to
retire in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open eight months ago. The key to getting his 2010 season on track, Nadal said Sat- urday, was reclaiming the French Open title that he lost in 2009. “After that,” he said, “I think I
relaxed a lot.” He sailed to his second Wim-
bledon title without losing a set and immediately turned his fo- cus to adapting his game for another assault on theU.S. Open, where the fast, hard courts blunt the effectiveness of his heavy top- spin. To that end,Nadal flattened
his groundstrokes, honed his vol- ley and added punch to his serve, transforming it from merely ade- quate to a formidable weapon. It was a sun-drenched after-
noon at the USTA National Ten- nis Center, eerily similar to the weather the morning of the ter- rorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Nadal, who was 15 at the time,
expressed his support for the families of the victims that day during his postmatch remarkson court. Asked what prompted the comments,Nadal explained that, like the rest of the world, he was shocked by the attacks and vivid- ly remembers where he was at the time. “That’s just the minimum
thing that I can say, all the sup- port for the victims and for the families,” Nadal said. “For sure
that is always inmy mind.” Earlier Saturday, Arlington’s
Denis Kudla stormed into the finals of the junior boys’ tourna- ment with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over eighth-seeded Agustin Velotti of Argentina, who won the French Open junior title in June. Also advancing was Jack Sock
of Lincoln,Neb., who toppled the No. 2 seed, Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, 6-3, 6-4. Sunday’s final will mark the
first all-American U.S. Open boys’ final since 2000, when Andy Roddick beat Robby Gine- pri in straight sets. Kudla,whotrains at the Junior
Tennis Champions Center in Col- lege Park, turned pro at 17 and is competing in his final junior Grand Slam.
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