Clijsters defeats Zvonareva, becomes World Number 2
Belgian comeback queen Kim Clijsters defeated current World Number 2 Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3 in under seventy-five minutes, just hours ago, securing the Russian pro’s place on the WTA rankings for herself.
While both players traded breaks in the first two games of the match, but Clijsters took the initiative by breaking serve and consolidating immediately to take away the first set of the match with a swift forehand.
Clijsters, known in Melbourne as “Aussie Kim”, is the home crowd’s favourite to win the tournament. She did not disappoint her fans during the skirmish against Zvonareva, and broke again in the third game of the second set to challenge her opponent with
a backhand volley. Her closing shot at 5-3 on Zvonareva’s serve was enough to close the semi-final in Clijsters’s favour.
Despite the fact that Zvonareva had a 3-1 head to head record against Clijsters, her defeat did not come as a surprise to most spectators. Her most recent match against Clijsters was at the 2010 US Open. The title match was a quick and ruthless demolition,
with Clijsters taking away the title in straight sets under an hour.
Vera Zvonareva acknowledged her opponent’s performance, saying, “My shots weren’t maybe good enough to hurt her today. She was playing fast and that maybe affected my game a little bit and I was playing a little bit too short and passive.”
At the same time, Clijsters appeared pleased by her performance, “I am happy that I was able to raise my level against an opponent where I have to play well and be very consistent through it all.”
The 27 year old has just one more match to play; she will compete against Li Na on Saturday for a chance to win the 2011 Australian Open. Keeping in mind that Li recently defeated the Belgian player 7-6(3), 6-3 at the Medibank International in Sydney, the
outcome of the title match is not easily predictable.
Kim Clijsters herself concluded her post-match remarks by saying, “she’s playing with obviously a lot of confidence, so am I. Should be a good one.”
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