Clijsters rallies to beat Sharapova for WTA title

It was 4th seed former #1 Kim Clijsters battling it out with 10th seed former #1
Maria Sharapova in the final of the WTA Tour Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA yesterday, Aug. 15th, 2010. The fans got their money’s worth at the 3-set match in which Kim came out the victor, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Maria held three match points with Kim serving at 3-5 in the second set just before rain interrupted the match. Maria was unable to convert and the tension and drama of the moment heightened as play was halted.

Kim held serve once play resumed, then quickly earned two break points on Maria’s serve. Maria saved both break points but double-faulted on a 3rd break point leveling the set at 5-5.

The set went to a tie-breaker in which Maria got up quickly to 3-0. But Kim again fought back, pulling level at 3-3 on Maria’s sixth double fault. Trailing 3-5, Maria double faulted again to go down 3-6. Kim won the tie-breaker at 7-4 to force a 3rd set.

In the 3rd set, Maria double faulted again to give Kim a break and a 2-1 lead, and Kim broke again in the fifth game on the way to a 5-1 lead. Maria held serve, then denied Kim two match points before Kim faced a break point. Kim saved the point and finally closed out the match on her third match point after two hours and 30 minutes.

After the match, Kim said, “I was so close to losing and then this dark cloud came. I thought I was hitting well from the baseline with her but my serve wasn’t working well. During the delay I had to regroup and refocus, and when we came back to the court I played aggressively and turned it around. I’m really happy to win.”

Kim now leads Maria 5-3 in career matches; Kim won the first four times they played, and Maria won the next three times—all in straight sets. However, they had not met since January, 2007, when, on a hardcourt in the semifinals of the Australian Open, Maria defeated Kim 6-4, 6-2.