Kim Clijsters of Belgium poses with the U.S. Open trophy in front of Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York yesterday. - REUTERS
NEW YORK (Reuters):
FOR ALL Kim Clijsters cared, they could have ripped the cheques up right in front of her.
The Belgian had eyes for only one thing after beating France's Mary Pierce 6-3, 6-1 in the U.S. Open final on Saturday - her first, gleaming grand slam trophy.
At the fifth time of asking Clijsters finally shed herself of the tag of being the best player not to have won a grand slam, in the process earning herself $2.2 million, the largest winner's prize in the history of women's sport.
"It's an amazing feeling to have, I find it very hard to believe," she gulped under the twinkling lights on Arthur Ashe Court, her face pink with the exertion of victory despite the scant resistance put up by her opponent.
"I just proved to myself that I can do it and that I'm up there with the best of them."
A GLORIOUS VINDICATION
The likeable 22-year-old fourth seed claimed victory with a heavy serve on her second match point and promptly dropped her racket as if in shock.
Then she sprinted across court to embark on a precarious climb up the courtside seating rails to the box where her mother Els and her other supporters stood shiny-eyed and cheering.
Clijsters' win was a glorious vindication of her positive attitude despite having lost in four grand slam finals and having missed most of 2004 with a chronic wrist problem that at one stage threatened to end her career.
The former world number one received her $1.1 million winner's cheque and a bonus totalling the same amount for having topped the pre-slam U.S. Open Series rankings.
Pierce was never in the match from the moment she lost serve in the opening game of the first set.
DIGNIFIED IN DEFEAT
She was, however, dignified in defeat, in contrast to her 6-1, 6-1 humiliation by another Belgian, Justine Henin-Hardenne, in June's French Open final, which she finished an apologetic, emotional wreck.
"Kim, congratulations, I'm so happy for you," said the 30-year-old, France's first U.S. Open finalist. "You're such a sweet girl. You really deserved to win."
The careers of Pierce and Clijsters have plenty in common. Both enjoyed great success early on before being badly disrupted by injuries.
In other ways, however, they could hardly be more different.
Clijsters radiates a natural urgency, bustling around the court with a bright-eyed relish for her work.
Pierce can give the impression she is playing through treacle, an infuriating mix of heaving sighs, pregnant pauses and nervous ticks.
Despite her reputation for mental frailty, Pierce won the Australian Open in 1995 and the French Open in 2000, reaching a high of number three in the rankings before being hobbled by ankle and back trouble in 2001.
This year, though, she reached the Roland Garros final again and the last eight at Wimbledon to signal a resurgence that will bring her back into the top 10 next week.
