Clijsters wins 2011 Aussie Open
Originally published on: 29/01/11 11:20
It took two hours and five minutes and three hard fought sets for Kim Clijsters to defeat China’s Li Na 3-6 6-3 6-3. But, at 10pm local time on Rod Laver Arena, Aussie Kim, as she has for so long been known in Australia, lifted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
The Beglian got off to a slow start dropping the first set in 38 minutes, but she soon wrestled a grip on the match claiming the next two sets 63 63.
The roar from the crowd as the Belgian stepped forward to lift the trophy said it all. It’s Kim’s fourth Grand Slam title; she adds her first Australian Open title to the three she grabbed in the US in 2005, 2009 and 2010. On court after the match as the result of this historic win, to the delight of the packed stadium, she finally gave her permission to everyone to call her “Aussie Kim”.
In taking the title, Clijsters also becomes one of only 8 women to win the US Open and the Australian Open back to back. The last women’s player to achieve this was Serena Williams in 2008/9. It is the Belgian’s 8th singles title since she returned to tennis in 2009; she had won the first six of those before losing in the Sydney final two weeks ago to today’s opponent Li.
Clijsters is projected to rise to No.2 when the WTA Rankings are published next week. The last time she was ranked No. 2 was in August 2006.
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