Federer v Nadal Today in Miami, Clijsters Completes Indian Wells-Miami Double

Posted on April 3, 2005

Clijsters Continues Amazing Comeback with WTA Miami Title

Unseeded Kim Clijsters defeated world No. 3 Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday in the final at the WTA stop in Miami for her second consecutive title after Indian Wells, securing her status as a major threat for the year-end No. 1 ranking. Clijsters' quick comeback follows a lengthy layoff due to wrist surgery where her future in the game was in doubt.

Clijsters, who employed topspin as well as slice, short angles and a deft touch at the net, adjusted to the wind better than Sharapova who struggled to muscle through the blustery conditions, her only option with a baseline arsenal limited mainly to topspin off the forehand and backhand sides.

"I think what I did really well today was be patient," Clijsters said. "Because in these conditions, it's very hard to play your own tennis and to play aggressively because, you know, like I said, with the wind, it's very hard. And on each side of the court you sort of have to produce different tactics, I guess, and you have to adjust your game a little bit. I think I did that really well today. I think I adjusted pretty good to the conditions and then I think I was maybe a little more patient today than she was."

Clijsters became the first unseeded player to win the title in the tournament's 21-year history, and only the second player to win the Indian Wells-Miami double in the same year after Steffi Graf.

The Belgian became emotional after the win, with her career in doubt after the complicated wrist surgery.

"It was -- again, even this one is even harder to believe, I think, this victory," Clijsters said. "Yeah, I don't know what to say about all this. It's been an incredible four weeks. I'm just going to try to enjoy it as much as I can."

Sharapova found the wind to be her downfall with little to fall back on stroke-wise. The Russian broke back with Clijsters serving at 5-3 in the second set, but could not match the consistency of the Belgian.

"It was swirling. It was not -- it was going in one direction but, you know, the ball moved, you know," Sharapova said. "It wasn't just going one way. When it was a slow ball, you'd see the ball move. You'd have to adjust really, really quick with your feet."

The one with the really quick feet was Clijsters, leaving Sharapova dumbfounded.

"The biggest surprise is it was her 14th straight match, and I didn't feel like she was physically fatigued," Sharapova said. "I'm not at the point where I can do that. She can play all day out there."

In the men's doubles final Saturday, No. 3 seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi crushed No. 2-seeded Zimbabweans Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett 6-1, 6-2.

"I guess it's a confirmation, a reassurance of us being somewhat a prominent team," said "The Beast" Mirnyi of their first title in their first full year as a team. "It's good to be playing well and have good expectations, but it's the other thing of winning a major title like this one. So we've known each other for such a long time, but it's finally good to win one together."

Black-Ullyett remain at No. 1 in the ATP Team Rankings.

Federer to Face Prodigy Nadal in ATP Miami Final

World No. 1 Roger Federer has revenge on his mind when he faces No. 29-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the best-of-five final Sunday at the ATP Masters Series stop in Miami, the Nasdaq-100 Open.

Last year Nadal ousted Federer in the third round, one of only six losses the Swiss absorbed in 2004.

Federer brings in a 21-match winning streak and an unbeaten streak in his last 17 finals while Nadal, at 18 the youngest finalist in the tournament's 21-year history, has won 15 straight and is attempting to become the first Spaniard to win in Miami.

A win in Miami would be the first career hardcourt title for Nadal, who is coming off two consecutive clay titles in 2005.

Federer is looking to become the sixth player to win consecutive ATP Masters Series titles in Indian Wells and Miami, and says Sunday will be hopefully different from last year when he lost to Nadal in their lone career meeting.

"It was tough to hit winners against him and hopefully Sunday will be different for me," Federer said of the muscular Spanish lefty. "He hits a lot of spin on his forehand and it's tough to control."

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
In the "Most annoying thing on the WTA Tour" poll, No. 1 with 60% of votes from Tennis-X readers was "Maria Sharapova's grunt," with No. 2 "A Serena Williams self-congratulatory press conference" with 20%, followed by "Everyone being injured" with 7%, edging out "Amelie Mauresmo collapsing in every big match" with 5%...Maria Sharapova on the return of Kim Clijsters: "I think all of us, you know, when you're so, I guess, anxious to come back and not having played for such a long time, and actually maybe knowing that you might never play tennis again, I think she was very anxious to get back. And like she said, you know, she was still working very hard physically and trying to stay in shape so she was ready when she came back. That's obviously shown. She has a great personality, so it's always good to have someone around like that. But also a great competitor on the court, which this game needs."...Kim Clijsters on entering the claycourt season: "I'm playing well at the moment. But, like you said, you know, the clay is a completely different surface. It's good that you have confidence, but, you know, it's still a long time. And I'm, you know -- like I said before, I think the clay is, in my situation now, I mean maybe the few years before, I was really -- started to train hard straightaway on the clay, but now I have to take it a little bit more slow because I'm in a situation where I cannot afford to have, you know, this problem again. And I have to be careful. So I'll, you know, I have to say that I'll be very happy when the claycourt season is over, I guess."