PREVIEW
US OPEN
The Wildcard Mother Perhaps not an unforgettable match in terms of the tennis on show, but you’d have to be pretty cold hearted not to feel at least a bit happy for Kim Clijsters, when she managed to win her second title, and the first since her return from injury and giving birth. Having retired from the sport in 2007, Clijsters only returned to tennis after playing in a charity match in February of 2009. The intention would be that Clijsters would use the US Open, and some warm-up tournaments beforehand, where she had applied for wildcards in all of them, to assess if a comeback was feasible. Having gone through playing pretty well in the first three rounds, people really took notice when she beat Venus Williams in the fourth, 6–0, 0–6, 6–4. The quarter-finals brought about a straight sets victory over Li Na, and the same again in the semis, this time over Serena Williams. It wasn’t enough for her to be the first unseeded finalist at the US Open since Venus in 1997, as she beat Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5, 6-3 to become the first wildcard champion in the history of the US Open and the only player to have beaten both Williams sisters in the same tournament twice.
McEnroe vs. Connors Today we have Nadal versus Federer. While Murray and Novak Djokovic are also right up there, there is something about the mutual respect and friendship between the first two that really catches the attention and lives in the memory. It might be the contrasting styles: elegant and regal against power and fist-pumps. But I digress, that is today. Thirty years ago, there was John McEnroe and Jimmy Conners.
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There were never hugs like Rafa and Roger, this was grudging respect, both beaten up and nursing bruises from their battles together. In the 1978 semi-final Conners had beaten McEnroe, a year later, again in the semi, it was the other way round. In 1980, in yet another semi-final, they met again. Eventually, it was McEnroe who managed to win in a final set tie-break, and it was the start of a really dominant spell for him afterwards. While Conners may not have been quite the player he was, he still managed three more successes at Slams. This match, however, was the greatest between two of the brashest characters in the sport.
Still the best
Maybe the best day in women’s tennis? It could be. The 1991 semi-final saw Martina Navratilova up against Steffi Graf; two of the very best. Monica Seles was now on the scene, also, and Graf wasn’t having everything her own way (she had gone 186 weeks at no.1) and a win here would help re-establish Graf as Queen Bee. Navratilova, on the other hand, was 34 and trying to keep up with this new breed of player, just as others had done with her when she arrived – most thought she was past her prime. What followed, however, wasn’t in the script. It wasn’t just about power; there were tactics involved and a total will to not go down without a fight. The veteran gave a flawless display of serve-and-volley, winning a close match 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. Navratilova went on to lose the final to Seles, and would never win another singles Slam title, but this match was almost a last hurrah in letting everyone know just how good she had been.
wildcard champion in the history of the US Open and the only player to have beaten both Williams sisters in the same tournament twice
The first
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