Clijsters returns to top-five after Cincinnati win
Kim Clijsters has returned to the top-five after claiming her third title of 2010, defeating Maria Sharapova in the final of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati.
It was perhaps a fitting victory for the US Open champion, who began her remarkable comeback at this tournament a year ago, losing to then world No. 1 Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals, celebrated that anniversary by winning the Cincinnati title, but the match didn’t appear to be heading in that direction for much of the first two sets.
"I was so close to losing and then this dark cloud came," said Clijsters, who survived three match points against her serve when that cloud released a downpour on centre court.
“During the delay I had to regroup and refocus, and when we came back to the court I played aggressively and turned it around. I'm really happy to win."
Having survived in increasingly blustery conditions until the heavens opened, Clijsters returned to court, held serve and pushed the second set to a tiebreak, eventually claiming the 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory.
The result pushes Clijsters’ ranking up three places to world No. 4, the highest it’s been since she rocketed to world No. 19 after winning the US Open last year after entering the tournament as an unranked player.
For Sharapova though, this is the one that got away. It’s also the one that would have marked the 2006 US Open champion as perhaps the one to watch in the 2010 staging of the tournament as she builds towards the world beating form that came so naturally to her before undergoing shoulder surgery in late 2008.
The world No. 12 (Shaparova gained three places in this week’s rankings) is not far away though, as an impressive run to the final that included wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova and seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska indicate.
Another who can take some positives about her form out of the tournament is Ana Ivanovic, who gains 23 places in this week’s rankings to rise to world No. 39 after reaching the semi-finals. That gain, however, is tempered by the fact that she strained ligaments in her ankle early in the semi against Clijsters, forcing her to retire from the match.
According to the 22-year-old’s website, Ivanovic is due to have further consultation and treatment in the coming days “at which time more details about her likely recovery time will emerge”.
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