Kim Clijsters completed her comeback to tennis with a fairytale win at Flushing Meadows by beating Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to claim her second US Open title.
Clijsters had beaten both Venus and Serena Williams on her way to the grand slam final, the semi final match against Serena ending in controversial circumstances when the American was awarded a one point penalty for arguing over a foot fault call by the line judge. With Clijsters on match point the game was awarded to the Belgian.
Serena, who quickly apologised for losing her composure on court, was subsequently fined $10,000 for her outburst, having already picked up an initial code violation for racquet abuse.
The final provided Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki with her first taste of a Grand Slam final, having never progressed beyond the fourth round previously. Indeed it was the Dane who appeared to have the edge during the first game, but Clijsters managed to claw her way back into it and won the final 7-5, 6-3.
After the win a tearful Clijsters said;
“I don’t have words for how I’m feeling – I’m just glad I got to come back to defend my title from 2005! It’s been so exciting for me, I just wanted to get back to playing tennis. The support I’ve received has been crazy. Even from the first round, how warmly everyone welcomed and embraced me. It helped me keep fighting and stay focused.”
The Belgian becomes the first wild-card entry to win a Grand Slam title and the first mother to win one since Evonne Goolagong Cawley beat Chrissie Evert to win Wimbledon in 1980.
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