Clijsters defeats Henin

By Glyn James
November 9 2002

Kim Clijsters has come out on top of yet another all Belgian clash with a highly impressive 6-2 6-1 scoreline. Venus Williams has also booked her place in the semi finals with a win over Monica Seles.

There was a high expectation for the 'Battle of the Belgians', with most people expecting a tight battle between two players who know each others' games so well. The level of tennis was way below average, but for Kim Clijsters, things went swimmingly.

This was the seventh meeting between the two, and this impressive victory gives Clijsters a 5-2 lead in the head to heads. Henin just couldn't adapt the surface and the lack of atmosphere, snd after gifting Clijsters a 2-1 lead with a double fault, Henin always looked as if she was in a struggle.

Clijsters continued the second set where she left the first, with consistent shots and consistent pressure on the Henin second serve, of which, Henin won just 30% of the points on. Henin held serve just once in the second set, and had already given up hope of a comeback long before the match had finished. Clijsters played intelligently and showed glimpses of the power she is able to generate. She ran out a 6-2 6-1 winner.

"Those matches are never easy", Kim said. "There's always a bit of tension because I know her so well. But that's tennis. We can't choose how the draw was made."

Clijsters will now face Venus Williams in the semi finals. Venus overcame a persistent Monica Seles in two close sets, and eventually took the match 7-5 6-4. Venus was thanking her lucky stars after twice hitting a lucky net chord whilst being break point down.

A relieved Venus joked, "I was very happy to be able to stay with her, I have a lot of respect for her. She was my favorite player growing up. That's why I started grunting; I wanted to be like Monica."