Top seed beats Clijsters in Belgian farewell
FROM THE PROXIMUS DIAMOND GAMES IN ANTWERP – Amelie Mauresmo won her first title of the season on Sunday, when she beat Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-6(4) in the Antwerp final in front of a 15,000 capacity crowd. It was the Frenchwoman’s third consecutive tournament win at the Tier II event and, as a reward, the No. 3 player gets to take home the elusive diamond racket, worth over a million dollars.
“It feels great [to win the racket].” Mauresmo said. “I’m happy I have been able to live up to the expectations this week. I played my best match of the week today and it was probably my best performance of the season. I’m very proud I played the best points on the important moments.”
The match ended in an anti-climax manner, when a dubious linecall at 5-4 in the tiebreak left the Belgian fans booing for minutes. Mauresmo hit a service out wide, which was called out by the linesman. However, the official corrected himself, making it an ace for the Frenchwoman.
“I don’t know if they [the crowd] understood what happened. It was tough it happened at this point of the match, when I had to play match point.” Mauresmo reflected. She ended the match on her first championship point.
Mauresmo started the match strong with an immediate break of serve. The Frenchwoman played one bad game in the first set, at 2-1, when Clijsters tied for 2-all. A hard-fought game followed, in which Mauresmo pounced on after hitting a forehand winner on her fourth break point.
Last week’s Paris semifinalist went to 4-2 on love and served for the set at 5-4. She coolly rounded off the first set with a service winner out wide on 40-15.
Clijsters had a better start to the second set, holding serve on love and breaking Mauresmo after she hit one of her three double faults in the game. The Belgian failed to confirm the break and go up 3-0, when she produced two double faults herself and completely overhit a forehand drive volley on breakpoint. Both players held serve for the remainder of the set.
After Clijsters made two backhand errors serving at 1-2 in the tiebreak, Mauresmo looked a sure winner. But, the Frenchwoman dropped her own two service points and Clijsters got back to 4-4. A crucial forehand miss put Mauresmo up a mini-break once more when she hit her controversial serve at 5-4. Clijsters hit a forehand long on 6-4, in what would be her last point on Belgian soil.
“I was quite certain the ball [at 5-4] was out, but it doesn’t matter anymore now.” Clijster, the '05 US Open champion, said. “The whole day has been very emotional, but on court I just felt the same nerves as usual.” She said.
Clijsters wants to do well on Wimbledon this year, and is therefore planning to pass on most of the clay court season to practice on grass. Asked if she will appear on Roland Garros, she said: “Probably not, no. The clay court season is very tough physically for me, but I will play some tournaments on clay because otherwise the break would be very long [after Miami].”
Clijsters stepped up to hold a farewell speech after the match, but not before she received a 2-minute standing ovation from her fans, making her break into tears. Struggling with her emotions, the 23-year-old spoke to the Sportpaleis crowd for one last time.
“I have so many people to thank,” she said. “I have experienced the best moments of my career here in Antwerp. The moment I stepped on court today is something I will not forget for the rest of my life.”
“Your support really means a lot to me,” she continued. “To me it’s worth so much more than any trophy I’ve won. Thanks so much for all the great moments.”
After Clijsters had thanked her family and fiancée Bryan Lynch, one of her favorite band’s, Clouseau, performed a song especially written for her, while all the ball kids handed flowers to the 23-year-old.
At the press conference, Clijsters looked back on a wonderful day. “It’s been a great farewell, my greatest experience ever in Belgium.”
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