Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters –Who to reign the US Open 2010 Championship?
It comes as no surprise to any avid tennis fan that Kim Clijsters this year’s defending champion for the US Open title, has made it to the semi-finals yet again. However, many viewers have expressed surprise, and Clijsters’s fans have been quite disappointed, by third-seed Venus Williams’ arrival at the fifth round.
Williams’ success and the consequent astonishment of fans are probably due to her knee problems; she arrived to the US Open 2010 Tournament with a bum knee, besides the fact that she was also out of practice. Her defeat of Roberta Vinci, which she won in straight sets (6-4, 6-1), was the first match she played in two months, except for qualifying rounds. Apart from these circumstances, Williams has been unable to reach the semi-finals of any majors or Grand Slam tournaments for over a year.
However, the African American 30-year-old tennis star seems to be regaining her foothold in the world of professional tennis. Beginning with her defeat of Vinci, Venus Williams went on to oust Rebecca Marino of Canada, Mandy Minella of Luxembourg, Shahar Peer of Israel and most recently, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, defeating Schiavone in two sets, 7-6 and 6-4. She is the only American player left in the tournament. When asked if she felt any pressure to win the US Open trophy for America, Williams replied "If I felt like that, I don't think I'd be able to even raise my arms. Thankfully, I don't feel that way. I think my expectations are enough to deal with, so I'm just going to hopefully temper that." Venus has not played in a US Open final since 2002, when she lost to her sister Serena Williams.
It is this most recent victory against Schiavone, which has propelled Williams into a semi-final with Kim Clijsters. Second-seed Clijsters, meanwhile, has beaten Greta Arn of Hungary, Sally Peers of Australia and Czech player Petra Kvitova. In her last match, she defeated Samantha Stosur in three sets (6-4, 5-7, 6-3). Clijsters was out of form for much of this match, making unnecessary errors, but finding just enough control to defeat the fifth-seed Stosur to score her 19th consecutive win at Flushing Meadows.
There are several interesting points to observe, when considering the prospective Clijsters vs. Williams match. For one, Williams has not won a title since 2001, whereas Clijsters’s last victory at the US Open was a mere year ago. This automatically makes Clijsters a more likely winner and a formidable opponent. Also, Williams’s victory over Schiavone maybe used to draw parallels between the prospective semi-final and Williams’s round four match. Williams entered the US Open with 51-1 record, when it comes to winning the first set. The one time that this record has been broken is by none other than Clijsters, in the 2005 US Open Championship. However, if Clijsters wins against Williams, and eventually defeats her opponent in the final, she will still be claiming a record, which was first made by Venus Williams i.e. back-to-back U.S. Open champion. Williams claimed the 2000 US Open Championship trophy, after which she won this Grand Slam again for the second time in a row, setting a new women’s record.
At this point, the odds seem to be leaning towards Clijsters; her previous record and the fact that she has played more matches this year than Williams may reflect upon her subsequent performance in this semi-final. However, Williams herself has eclipsed the minimal expectations of sceptics to outperform herself right into the semi-final against Clijsters, so she may yet stand a chance. A shot at the US Open Championship itself is unpredictable, until the players for the title match are confirmed. Whatever the result, the unusual circumstances of the Williams-Clijsters match verify that it is one to be watched.
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