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There are claycourt specialists, there are grasscourt lovers and there are hardcourt experts. Is it possible for there to be a US Open specialist? Kim Clijsters, who whipped Russia’s Vera Zvonareva into oblivion yesterday in a 59-minute 6-2, 6-1 demolition job, now has 3 US Open titles to her name – and no other Major title. Much has been made of Clijsters’s ongoing 21-match winning streak at the US Open (she won the title in 2005, missed the next 3 editions due to injury/retirement, and has now clinched back-to-back victories in 2009 and 2010). She contested two other Majors this year – at the Australian Open she was given a shellacking of a lifetime by Nadia Petrova, and at Wimbledon her game went completely off the rails in the quarterfinal against, you guessed it, Zvonareva. Clearly, there’s something about the Decoturf of New York that brings out the best in Clijsters, and if you’re wondering why the comparably quick lawns at Wimbledon or the Australian Plexicushion hardcourts don’t have the same effect on her, you’re in the same place as I am.
Clijsters’s peculiar affinity to the American hardcourts notwithstanding, it’s funny how just one tournament can completely change our perception of a particular storyline. Before this tournament began it wouldn’t have been wrong to call Clijsters’s second career a mixed bag – her stunning US Open victory last year was followed by a string of solid if unspectacular results, with that loss to Petrova sticking out like a sore thumb. But now, by winning 2 out of the 5 Majors since making her comeback (and 2 out of the 4 she’s contested), Clijsters has ensured that her unretirement will be considered a resounding success, particularly when seen in comparison with countrywoman Justine Henin’s stutters and struggles in her own personal comeback story. With titles in Brisbane, Miami and Cincinnati to add to her victory yesterday, Clijsters has pretty much ruled the hardcourts this year, which is no small feat considering we are living in the Ball-Basher era.
In the first half of her career we branded Clijsters with a large number of unsavory titles – ‘headcase’, ‘too nice for her own good’, ‘mental midget’, ‘perennial bridesmaid’ – these are the less unpleasant ones. When she played that forgettable match against Petrova we unearthed all those names again and gleefully heaped all the scorn we could muster on the dazed Belgian. And yet here we are, just months removed from that moment, actually mentioning the words ‘fierce competitor’ and Clijsters in the same sentence. Her run at this tournament had all the hallmarks of a Serena-like gladiatorial spectacle. She refused to wilt against Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals despite playing well below her best, she refused to cave in the semifinals despite having to stare down the full force of a Williams onslaught (at least for a set and a half), and when the time came for her to assert her superior athleticism and ball-striking skills in the final, she did that with authority and elan. If this performance doesn’t permanently alter Clijsters’s legacy for the good, I don’t know what will.
The thing that has made the Clijsters story all the more appealing, specially to the media, is the fact that despite her newfound ferociousness and ruthlessness on the court, she remains the same endearing, down-to-earth, ‘nice’ person that she has always been. The whole ‘supermom’ narrative that the media have been tom-tomming for about a year may have become old, but when Clijsters’s 2.5-year-old daughter Jada did an encore of her performance from last year when she pranced around on the court after her mom’s victory, it was impossible not to be captivated by the fullness of Clijsters’s life. Sure Clijsters does suffer the occasional hiccup here and an isolated meltdown there, but it must be incredibly comforting for her to know that despite all the miseries she may go through on the court, she has an adorable daughter and a happy family to go back home to. That kind of relaxed mindset has helped Clijsters immeasurably – it’s no coincidence that the meltdowns in her second career have been few and far between.
The year started off with frenzied anticipation of Henin’s comeback and has ended with the triumphant return of Clijsters to the seat of her glory. When the dust settles on the careers of these two Belgian powerhouses, is it really possible that Clijsters will emerge the last woman standing?
