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Saturday January 29, 2011

 

Kim Clijsters wins the Final of the Australian Open 2011 over Na Li

By LadyDragon

Australian Open 2011

MELBOURNE, Australia--(LadyDragon.com)29/01/11--Kim Clijsters wins The Women Championship 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 of the Australian Open 2011.

Na LI

TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

Sixth Australian Open main draw; scored best Grand Slam result in 2010, advancing to SF (l.S.Williams 76 76); 4r in 2007 (l. No.6 seed Hingis); reached 3r in 2005 (l. No.4 seed Sharapova) and 2008 (l. Domachowska); fell 1r in 2006 (l. S.Williams); did not play in 2009 due to right knee injury; fell in qualifying in 2001

2011 SUMMARY:WON (1): Sydney

• Won 4th career title at Sydney, biggest title to date, (d. No.3 Clijsters in F – Clijsters’ first loss in a final since return to tennis); first Chinese player to win a Premier WTA title, trailed 5-0 in 1s, recovered to win 76 63

2010 HIGHLIGHTS:WON (1):

Birmingham; SF (4): Australian Open, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Beijing; QF (5): Dubai, Stuttgart, Madrid, Wimbledon, Bali

• Reached first Grand Slam SF at Australian Open (d. Wozniacki and V.Williams en route, l. S.Williams in SF); with Zheng first time that 2 Chinese players reached SF at same Slam

• Became first Chinese player to rank in Top 10 after 2010 Australian Open; ranked in Top 10 a total of 16 weeks

• Won 3rd WTA singles title, and first on grass, at Birmingham (d. Sharapova in F; reached QF or better at 9 tournaments in 2010 (only Stosur and Wozniacki had more)

CAREER SUMMARY:WON (4):

2004 Guangzhou, 2008 Gold Coast, 2010 Birmingham, 2011 Sydney; R-Up (4): most recently 2009 Birmingham; SF (15): incl. 1 Grand Slam, most recently at 2010 Beijing; 2 doubles titles

• Won 4th (and biggest) singles title so far at Sydney in first Premier final –previously reached 7 SFs at Premier level

• Missed 4 months (March-June) of 2008 with right knee injury (had surgery on March 31); missed second half of 2007 season with right rib stress fracture

• Holds many firsts for Chinese tennis: first to win a WTA singles title (2004 Guangzhou); first to reach Grand Slam singles QF (2006 Wimbledon); at 2006 Estoril played Zheng in first all-Chinese WTA singles final (l. ret. w/heat illness); first Olympic singles semifinalist (in 2008) and first to crack singles Top 20 (August 14, 2006) and Top 10 (February 1, 2010); remained in Top 10 for 16 weeks; first to win Premier title (2011 Sydney)

• Nine Top 5 wins, latest vs. No.3 Clijsters (2011 Sydney); includes 1 win vs. world No.1 (d. S.Williams at 2008 Stuttgart)

• Chinese Fed Cup team 1999-2002, 2005-06, 2008 and Olympic team 2000 and 2008 (4th place, l. Zvonareva)

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

• 2011 Australian Open is 19th career Grand Slam singles main draw; at 2010 US Open suffered first opening round loss since 2006 Australian Open and only 3rd of career (2005 US Open, 2006 Australian Open)

• Scored best Grand Slam result to date at 2010 Australian Open (SF, as No. 16 seed, l. No.1 S.Williams); also reached 4 QF (2006/2010 Wimbledon, 2011 Australian Open and 2009 US Open)

• Has reached QF at all majors except Roland Garros, where best result is 4r in 2009; also 4r three times

OTHER FACTS

• Coached by husband Jiang Shan (married January 2006) from start of 2011; fitness trainer is Alex Stober; worked with Thomas Hogstedt until end 2010

• Introduced to tennis at age 9 after playing badminton for two years

• Father is Sheng-Peng; mother is Yan-Ping; is an only child

• Studied journalism at Huazhong Institute of Science & Technology during 2-year break from sport (April 2002-04)

• Donated all her prize money from 2010 Madrid to the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, to help with earthquake relief efforts in Yushu, China

Kim Clijsters

TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

Ninth Australian Open; fell 3r in 2010 (l. Petrova 60 61; heaviest loss in a Grand Slam) in first appearance since 2007; 2004 runner-up (l. top seed Henin in 3s); 4 SF finishes: in 2002 (l. Capriati), 2003 (held mp, l. S.Williams), 2006 (ret. vs. Mauresmo with right ankle sprain), and 2007 (l. Sharapova) and reached 4r in 2001 (l. Davenport); on tournament debut in 2000, fell 1r (l. countrywoman Van Roost in 3s), one of only 2 opening round defeats in Grand Slams

2011 SUMMARY

R-Up (1): Sydney

• Runner-up in first event of year at Sydney (l. Li, led 5-0, lost 76 63); first defeat in 7 singles finals since return

2010 HIGHLIGHTS: WON (5):

Brisbane, Miami, Cincinnati, US Open, WTA Champs-Doha; QF (3): Eastbourne, Wimbledon,Montreal

• Won 5 titles in a year for the 3rd time in her career (2003, 2005); reached QF or better at 8 of 11 tournaments played

• 85% win-loss record in 2010, and 90% winning record on hard court

• Won 3rd Grand Slam title at US Open, extending US Open winning streak to 21 matches (2nd best Open Era)

• Saved mps in both Brisbane (vs. Henin) and Cincinnati (vs. Sharapova) finals

• Went 10-1 vs. Top 10 ranked opponents in 2010 (only loss to Zvonareva at WTA Championships-Doha)

• Withdrew from Madrid and Roland Garros due to left foot injury; missed Beijing with right foot injury

CAREER SUMMARY: WON (40):

(incl. 3 Grand Slams), incl. 5 in 2010 – Brisbane, Miami, Cincinnati, US Open, WTA Champs- Doha; R-Up (18): most recently 2011 Sydney; 11 doubles titles

• 13th player in the Open Era to win 40 singles titles or more, adding 5 in 2010, including 3rd WTA Championships title in Doha

• Only player to defeat Serena and Venus Williams at the same tournament twice – at 2002 WTA Championships and 2009 US Open

• Returned at 2009 Cincinnati (after more than 2 years away); in 3rd tournament won 2nd Grand Slam title at US Open (see below); played 4 events in 2009 and ended year ranked No.18; prior to return had not played since May 6, 2007 (l. Vakulenko, 2r Warsaw)

• Announced plans for a comeback in March 2009, played exhibitions at Wimbledon in May, ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June and World Team Tennis in July

• Became 13th player and first Belgian to hold No.1 singles ranking on August 11, 2003; spent total of 19 weeks at No.1; last ranked No.1 on March 13, 2006; also held No.1 ranking in doubles for 3 weeks, becoming only the 5th player in WTA history to hold No.1 singles and doubles simultaneously (also Navratilova, Sanchez-Vicario, Hingis and Davenport; S.Williams became 6th player to do so in June 2010)

• Became lowest-ever ranked Tier I champion when winning 2005 Indian Wells title ranked No.133; then became first unseeded Miami champion, and just 2nd woman after Graf to achieve the Indian Wells-Miami double

• Missed much of 2004 w/left wrist injury (underwent surgery on June 12, 2004; played only 1 tournament between then and February 2005; injured left wrist again at 2006 Montreal and missed a further 2 months

• Has 5 career wins vs. reigning No.1, most recently vs. Wozniacki at 2010 WTA Championships-Doha (final)

• Member of Belgian Fed Cup Team 2000-06, 2010 helping Belgium win its first-ever title in 2001

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

• 2011 Australian Open is 31st Grand Slam main draw singles appearance

• 3-time Grand Slam winner, all at US Open: 2005 (d. Pierce), 2009 (d. Wozniacki) and 2010 (d. Zvonareva)

• At 2009 US Open became first unranked player to win the title – previously had only been won by players ranked in Top 10; also first wildcard to win a Grand Slam title and first mother to do so since Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1980 Wimbledon); 2009 US Open was first Slam played since 2007 Australian Open

• Won 2005 US Open in 5th Grand Slam final – the only female player in the Open Era to lose 4 finals and go on to win a major; runner-up at 2001 Roland Garros (l. Capriati), 2003 Roland Garros/2003 US Open/2004 Australian Open (l. Henin each time); also 7-time semifinalist, and 3-time quarterfinalist

• Has not lost in 1r of a major since 2000 Roland Garros, one of only two occasions that she has fallen in the opening round at a major (other was 2000 Australian Open)

• On Grand Slam (and tour level) debut at 1999 Wimbledon, advanced to 4r (as a qualifier, l. No.2 Graf)

• Two Grand Slam doubles titles w/Sugiyama (2003 Roland Garros and Wimbledon); mixed doubles finalist (2000 Wimbledon w/Hewitt)

OTHER FACTS

• Coached by Wim Fissette, physio is Sam Verslegers

• Husband is US basketball player, Brian Lynch; married July 13, 2007. Daughter, Jada Ellie, born Feb 27, 2008

• Father, Leo (nickname Lei), (passed away January 4, 2009) was a soccer coach and former player (Belgium's 1988 Player of the Year); mother, Els, was a top gymnast in Belgium; younger sister, Elke also played professionally

• Won 2010 Player of the Year and Player Service Award, the latter voted for by fellow players; also was 2009 WTA Comeback Player of the Year; also won 2009 Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (voted for by fellow WTA players) for second time (also 2006); received awards at Miami 2010

• Won ‘Comeback of the Year’ at 2009 Laureus Awards, ceremony held in Abu Dhabi in March 2010

• Official Web site: www.kimclijsters.be

Kim serving first,start with an ace and holds to Love 1-0. Kim breaks to Love 2-0. Close game and Li breaks 2-1. Li holds to 15 2 all. Kim holds 3-2. Li down 15-40 manages to hold 3 all. Kim gets a break point but fail to convert 4-3. Close game but Li holds 5-3. A great winner that allows Li to break and to win the first set 6-3.

After 4 breaks, 2 all Li serving15-40 brings it to deuce and finally holds 3-2. Kim holds to 30, 3 all. Li down again 15-40 only manages to save 1 point then Kim breaks for a 4-3 lead. Kim holds to 30. A long fought game and Kim breaks to win the second set. 6-3.

Kim hold to Love 1-0. Kim won the last 5 games and continues to win 2-0. A double fault give a break point to Li and she breaks with a wonderful shot down the line that Kim can barely get too 2-1, 4-1. Li holds to 30 4-2. Kim holds to 15, 5-2 Li holds to 15, 5-3. Kim holds to Love to win the third set 6-3 and the Championship.

With this win Kim will move to second place of the WTA ranking on Monday.

Kim Clijsters's interview after her win of the Final of the Australian Open 2011 over Na Li

Na Li's interview after her lost of the Final of the Australian Open 2011 to Kim Clijsters

 

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