Clijsters Pulls Mother Of All Upsets

Sports Betting News - September 14th, 2009 - Written by John

When Kim Clijsters swung her daughter in her arms, part athlete, part parent, there was something refreshingly unfamiliar about her championship celebration. After all, it hadn't been since 1980 that a player won a major after giving birth.

But on the heels of a whirlwind two years--which saw retirement, marriage, non-stop hospital visits, child birth and unretirement--Clijsters hoisted up her 18-month old daughter in celebration after capturing the most unlikely majors in recent memory. She beat no. 9 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, Sunday night to win the U.S. Open, only the second major title of her career.

“It still seems so surreal,” Clijsters said. “Because it wasn’t in the plan. I wanted to come back here, get a feel for it, play a Grand Slam so I wouldn’t have to come back next year and learn the new experiences all over.”

Clijsters called it quits two years ago after struggling with injuries and indifference, instead hoping to focus on something that brought a spark to her life--her daughter Jada. She said it was a non-decision and would've hung up on anyone who were to tell her she would be back in tennis by August of '09. But here she was, playing in her first tournament in almost two years, just hoping to shake the rust off.

If playing again was a surprise to Clijsters, telling her she would win her first tournament back would've been hilarious.

But she volleyed to stay in matches and force other players to make bad shots and played like a mature 26-year old veteran, who's wisdom and composure far surpassed her opponents.

“I really think she might be a better player now than she was before," Wozniacki bragged.

The final actually seemed like the easy part after going through the Williams sisters two of the previous three rounds. She past past Venus, 6-0, 0-6, 6-4, in what was thought to be a shocker all by itself after the elder Williams had just made it to the Wimbledon final.

Then, in one of the most bizarre series of events you'll ever see, Serena Williams essentially handed Clijsters the ticket to the final when he was called for a foot-fault two points away from losing the match. Her ensuing tirade left Clijsters standing against the back wall in disbelief and the recipient of match point after officials docked Williams with a one-point penalty.

In the final, Clijsters was able to rebound from a slow start, falling behind Wozniacki 4-2 early on. But she was able to climb to 5-5 and fought off two break points en route to winning the set.

Clijsters will more than likely shoot up to no. 20 in the rankings and will hang around there for a while. Because it takes a lot of tournaments to accumulate the points for a higher ranking. And she's a mother. Right now the mother of all mothers. And there are more important things than playing non-stop tennis. Like nap time.

“We tried to plan her nap time a little later today so she could be here,” Clijsters said after the match.

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