This match was far more topsy turvey than you'd think from the outset. While 19-year old Dane Caroline Wozniacki battled hard and got some fab break point opportunities, ultimately experience told. Clijsters held the edge with solid baseline ground strokes, mixing pace, and pressing at the net when needed.
Bloggers, twitterers and commentators talked about a subdued atmosphere on Arthur Ashe. Psh, I didn't see that! The New York crowd seemed a little stunned to even get a match, even if hope of it going the distance faded fast once Clijsters took the first (a little fortuitously) 7-5. Her victory on the horizon, though certainly not sealed, that left space to admire some fantastic long rallies, the wonderful enthusiasm of Wozniacki (who I envied for enjoying the moment whilst battling at the same time -not easy to do!) and the fierceness of Kim Clijsters to finish off a tense final game.
The winner is famously a lovely person, in addition to her competitiveness, and all in all this was a surprisingly refreshing final. Both tried hard, the winner deserved it, no one choked- nothing but celebratory clapping, baby mamma cliche remarks in the trophy ceremony (Mary Jo Fernandez shamelessly trying to provoke more 'I did it for the kid' sooundbites from Clijsters), adorable daughter Jada Lynch pointing excitedly whenever she saw herself on the big screen (move over Shiloh Jolie Pitt, there's a younger blonde moppett in town) and happy tears (not grief stricken what-the-hell-happened-out-there stares into the distance. Sorry Dinara, that'd be you).
I also liked that Caroline speaks fluent Danish and Polish and chose to hijack the airwaves demonstrating this with a lengthy shout out in native tongues to her peeps- go girl, keep on talking, let the music play before you hand over the mike...
For someone who expected to be underwhelmed by the womens final, this kept me on my toes enough. Welcome back Kim!
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