Clijsters upsets Venus Williams at U.S. Open
Last Updated: Monday, September 7, 2009 | 12:28 AM ET
CBC Sports
Kim Clijsters celebrates her victory over Venus Williams Sunday at the U.S. Open. (Amy Sancetta/Associated Press)Kim Clijsters's amazing comeback tour continues to roll along.
The Belgian star, competing at the U.S. Open after a two-year layoff, upset No. 3 seed Venus Williams, 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 Sunday to advance to the quarter-finals.
"It was unbelievable, I don't know what to say," Clijsters said. "It was such a weird match, especially those first two sets. But after I lost the second at 6-0, I said, 'Let's start over and start a new match."'
Clijsters left tennis in 2007 to get married and have a baby, before returning to the tour this month. She is trying to become the first unseeded player to reach the finals of the U.S. Open since Venus Williams did it in 1997.
"I've been working really hard the last seven, eight months and I'm enjoying it," Clijsters said. "It's something that's really important for myself, as long as I can focus on tennis and have fun on the outside as well."
Clijsters, the 2005 U.S. Open champion, used a combination of stinging forehands and backhands and power to overcome Williams.
After trading bagels in the first two sets, Clijsters grabbed an early break to take a 3-1 lead in the final set and then served out to win.
Clijsters will play China's Na Li, who drubbed Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the day.
Serena restores order
A day after a trio of big upsets at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams restored order with a resounding straight-sets win over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
The No. 2 seed reeled off the last 10 games en route to a 6-2, 6-0 romp at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Williams fired off eight aces and hit 27 winners in a match that lasted just over an hour. She has yet to lose a set and advances to the quarter-finals.
The American was very impressive, keeping her powerful groundstrokes between the lines against an opponent who was the No. 22 seed. Hantuchova failed to break the streak even though she led 40-15 in the penultimate game of the match.
Williams is looking for her second consecutive and fourth U.S. Open overall, and her fourth Grand Slam of the last five contested.
Top women's seed Dinara Safina, and former Open champions Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick were all upset in action on Saturday.
Even though Safina has yet to win a Grand Slam event, she will amazingly retain the top women's ranking even if Williams wins her 12th career major, based on a greater level of activity.
Williams' quarter-final opponent will be No. 10 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who saved six match points en route to eliminating No. 7 Vera Zvonareva 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0.
Nadal wins Spanish tilt
No. 3 men's seed Rafael Nadal of Spain got a good test Sunday, defeating countryman Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal, recovering from a knee injury, is looking to win the only Grand Slam title to elude him. He will next play No. 13 Gael Monfils of France.
No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile topped 17th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Gonzalez moves on to meet No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
No. 9 Gilles Simon of France won't be making a bid for a first Grand Slam after retiring with a knee injury. Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain led the match 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 1-0.
Also moving on is No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated Daniel Koellerer 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
In mixed doubles, Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott of the United States defeated Canadian Daniel Nestor and Sania Mirza of India 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the third round.
With files from The Associated Press
