Tennis Update: U.S Open 2010- Venus Williams versus Kim Clijsters (Match Preview)
Every time the two top ranked tennis players, Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams face each other on the hard court, it is actually the battle of will power than the quality of the game itself. The stage is once again set on the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, where the two of them have to fight for a final berth at the United States Open tennis tournament. The fans on the stands are definitely going to love the excitement and thrill of a pressure match between the two tennis giants.
The Belgian tennis player, Kim Clijsters is the last year’s winner here. In fact, she has made her way into the final four at Queens on the last four occasions she has contested under the lights at Flushing Meadows, including this season. In addition, what makes it threatening for the thirty year old Venus and boosts up the confidence of the Belgian, is the fact that Kim has toppled Venus on her way into the final battle on a total of two occasions in New York. However, those two clashes were not throbbing wins delivered by Kim, rather three set clashes with constant drama.
The first time, both of them faced each other at the United States Open was back in 2001, in the quarter final round. Venus managed to dismiss Clijsters in a total of two sets. The final match score was 6-3, 6-1. Four years later, the two once again met in the quarterfinal clash in New York. The American obviously had the support of the home ground, as well as crowd, however the all time favourite Kim also had her share of backers on the stands. The Belgian bounced back from down 6-4, 4-2, to win the battle in the end. The final match score was 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Then previous season, Kim seized another win of the lanky Venus in a see saw three setter match. The final match score was 6-0, 0-6, and 6-4.
The thirty year old American, Venus Williams also has her victories against Kim; however, none of them came at the year’s final major event in front of her home crowd in New York.
So, will Williams be a third time lucky?
The stats of her previous clashes are not favouring Venus for the semi final clash. At one stage in their professional life, the American was leading the pair’s face to face encounters with 6-2. Therefore, there is no doubt about the fact that Venus Williams has the class to once again repeat her match winning performance against the Belgian in order to book her spot in the title battle at the Flushing Meadows. Thus, the expectations to win the match are more or less equal from both of them.
The 6 foot 1 inches Venus has the support of her home crowd, however the main area of concern is her ground strokes as well as serve. As, she may be able to hit a serve up to 130 miles per hour, however that does not save her from firing nine double faults in a clash. Therefore, in order to triumph against the amazingly quick Kim, Venus will have to serve accurately, particularly her first serve of the match. She needs to focus more on her accuracy if the American wants to win the semi final battle. The second thing to take care is her forehand. Most of the times, it is either off or on. Against Kim earlier in Miami this season, Venus was spraying forehand unforced errors all around the court. In order to triumph, the American cannot let that happen this time in New York.
Kim’s must-do are also similar to Venus. The Belgian has to control her double faults as she committed quite a bit in her quarterfinal clash with Stosur as well. Another aspect that she has to focus is her pace. Kim is as quick as any counter puncher however, we all are well aware of the power and speed of Venus Williams as well. Therefore, it is going to be a nail biting clash without any measure of speculations.
No one can predict before the match as to who is going to win. Will it be the defending champion once again making her way into the finals? Or it is going to be the American tennis star, celebrating after the battle in New York? Let’s wait and see!
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