Kim Clijsters picked up her third title of the season on
Sunday by defeating France's Amelie Mauresmo 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 in the final of
the Italian Open.
Mauresmo, who beat Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams to reach the
championship game, served for the match at 6-5 in the second set but Clijsters
stormed back from 30-15 down to force a tie-break.
She won that easily and then coasted through the final set as Mauresmo, who
also finished runner-up in 2000 and 2001, struggled to regain her momentum.
Clijsters has also claimed the titles in Sydney and Indian Wells this season
and appears to be in good form in the run-up to the French Open, which gets
under way on May 26.
Clijsters remains second in the WTA world rankings and is in good shape ahead
of Roland Garros, although she is finding her success hard to take in.
``I like seeing my name at number two.
``If I can go to number one, it would be an unbelievable feeling.
``If not I would still be happy and it would be something I could tell my kids
about.''
She became the first Belgian victor of the event, and Belgian firsts are
becoming something of a frequent occurrence on the WTA circuit, with her own
success and that of world number four Justine Henin-Hardenne.
``It's always nice to have that part of history for Belgium. I hope there can
be many more [titles] for Justine and myself because she was very close too last
year.
``(It) doesn't matter if it's for Justine or for me, I think it would be great
for both of us if we can win this event many more times.''
Defeated Mauresmo admitted she was exhausted by her week's exertions.
``In the second set it was getting very difficult for me physically,'' she
said.
``She had an easier match than me yesterday and it's good for her.
``You've got to give her credit to stay in the match and finally win it.''
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook