Clijsters-Venus the main event
NEW YORK — As wacky matches go, Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams produced a state-of-the-art one a year ago in the U.S. Open's fourth round.
Clijsters won the first set, 6-0.
Williams then reciprocated, 6-0.
Then they got down to business instead of bagels, with Clijsters winning a compelling 6-4 final set en route to the title she won in only her third "comeback" tournament following a 28-month "retirement."
"We've had some strange matches," said Clijsters, who also won an Open in 2005.
"We had a great match last year," Williams opined.
Well, maybe today, when the two meet for a 13th time (they've split their previous matches 6-6) for a berth in Saturday's women's final, which Clijsters won last year over one of today's other semifinalists, top-seed Caroline Wozniacki, who faces Wimbledon finalist and seventh-seed Vera Zvonareva.
Yet Clijsters-Williams is the main event, a faceoff between a pair of two-time Open champions, with Clijsters trying to match a feat Williams last accomplished nine years ago: defending her title.
That's a long drought for a player of Williams' caliber, although she has won Wimbledon three times (of five All England Club titles overall) since — an event missing from Clijsters' resume (as are wins in the Australian and French opens).
Williams, in fact, has reached just one U.S. final (2002) and one other semifinal (2007) since last winning at Flushing Meadows, although like her sister Serena this year, injuries sidelined her in 2003 and '06.
Still, befitting her "never reveal too much" mentality, she said when asked whether she's surprised to have not made a final in eight years, "I feel really comfortable here and it's great to come back to a place where I have won and a place where I've played well."
Starting in 1997, when she thrust herself onto tennis' big stage by reaching the Open final, where she lost to fellow 17-year-old Martina Hingis.
Now 30 and at the Open without a warm-up tournament since Wimbledon, Williams has swept all 10 sets in her first five matches, prompting Clijsters to say, "This is probably some of the best of Venus that I've seen for a while."
