Sharapova Shaky, Clijsters Grounds Down Venus at US Open
Posted on September 7, 2005The familiar choking was there, the double faults at 30-all, the shanked forehands on break points, but in the end it was never-slam winner Kim Clijsters posting one of the biggest wins of her career Tuesday night at the US Open, coming back from a set and 2-4 down to defeat seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Both favorites coming into the Open, Clijsters had extra incentive during the match after Venus' pre-match comments, essentially saying that even though she lost their last meeting, Venus thought she and Clijsters had similar games except that she did everything better.
After failing to close out the second set, Venus succumbed to that familiar Williams sisters foe -- fitness -- looking physically and mentally spent in the third set.
"I just kept hanging in there," Clijsters said. "Even though I wasn't playing my best tennis, I was fighting and defending well. It got her tired as well. We had a lot of long rallies. I started noticing that she wasn't running as well as she used to. I knew that if I would win that second set, I would have a good chance to win because I felt fine."
Venus in her post-match conference said Clijsters played well but sucked the elder Williams sister into her web of poor play.
"At the end of the day, the best player usually wins, and she definitely played the best today," Venus said. "She started hitting these really weird shots and just weird stuff...And the next thing, I was playing as bad as she was. She was able to recover. I just wasn't. I guess maybe it was a good strategy."
Clijsters will now face No. 1 seed Maria Sharapova in the Friday semifinal, with the Russian surviving a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 ugly win over countrywoman Nadia Petrova.
"I thought it was too easy in the beginning," said Sharapova, who jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before the wheels came off, with the two combining for almost 100 unforced errors. "I was on fire. She wasn't playing that badly, I was just making winner after winner. All of a sudden, I just went out of the stadium and my mojo wasn't there...The last game I guess it just decided to come back."
Sharapova may have had her mojo take a walkabout with Andy Roddick's, with the two fending off rumors of dating entering the US Open.
"So many ups and downs," said Sharapova of advancing into the semis, where her consistency will need to dial way up to defeat the scrambling Clijsters. "I just found a way to fight. A lot of credit to Nadia, she played an amazing match."
Scheduled for Wednesday are (2) Davenport vs. (6) Dementieva (first meeting this year, with Davenport leading the career series 10-4), (3) Mauresmo vs. (12) Pierce in an all-French (Mauresmo leads 4-2, winning both meetings this year), and in doubles (7) Groenefeld/M.Navratilova vs. (2) Kuznetsova/Molik.
"I feel like my first serve is getting better. But the second serve, I still slice it too much," said Dementieva on her anemic delivery that Davenport will attempt to lunch on. "I'm always serving to the forehand side. It's kind of difficult to change something when you are playing in a grand slam."
Both favorites coming into the Open, Clijsters had extra incentive during the match after Venus' pre-match comments, essentially saying that even though she lost their last meeting, Venus thought she and Clijsters had similar games except that she did everything better.
After failing to close out the second set, Venus succumbed to that familiar Williams sisters foe -- fitness -- looking physically and mentally spent in the third set.
"I just kept hanging in there," Clijsters said. "Even though I wasn't playing my best tennis, I was fighting and defending well. It got her tired as well. We had a lot of long rallies. I started noticing that she wasn't running as well as she used to. I knew that if I would win that second set, I would have a good chance to win because I felt fine."
Venus in her post-match conference said Clijsters played well but sucked the elder Williams sister into her web of poor play.
"At the end of the day, the best player usually wins, and she definitely played the best today," Venus said. "She started hitting these really weird shots and just weird stuff...And the next thing, I was playing as bad as she was. She was able to recover. I just wasn't. I guess maybe it was a good strategy."
Clijsters will now face No. 1 seed Maria Sharapova in the Friday semifinal, with the Russian surviving a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 ugly win over countrywoman Nadia Petrova.
"I thought it was too easy in the beginning," said Sharapova, who jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before the wheels came off, with the two combining for almost 100 unforced errors. "I was on fire. She wasn't playing that badly, I was just making winner after winner. All of a sudden, I just went out of the stadium and my mojo wasn't there...The last game I guess it just decided to come back."
Sharapova may have had her mojo take a walkabout with Andy Roddick's, with the two fending off rumors of dating entering the US Open.
"So many ups and downs," said Sharapova of advancing into the semis, where her consistency will need to dial way up to defeat the scrambling Clijsters. "I just found a way to fight. A lot of credit to Nadia, she played an amazing match."
Scheduled for Wednesday are (2) Davenport vs. (6) Dementieva (first meeting this year, with Davenport leading the career series 10-4), (3) Mauresmo vs. (12) Pierce in an all-French (Mauresmo leads 4-2, winning both meetings this year), and in doubles (7) Groenefeld/M.Navratilova vs. (2) Kuznetsova/Molik.
"I feel like my first serve is getting better. But the second serve, I still slice it too much," said Dementieva on her anemic delivery that Davenport will attempt to lunch on. "I'm always serving to the forehand side. It's kind of difficult to change something when you are playing in a grand slam."